Zero Requiem
by ColourfulF
Summary: A dying Touma walks down the lonely path of a Magic God for an eventual happy ending.
1. Prologue

**Prologue: **

**Miracle. A_Path_Has_Been_Set**

* * *

**Part 1**

Darkness filled the space around him.

"Why am I here all of a sudden?"

A boy named Kamijou Touma stood within that darkness.

_Do you wish to save that girl?_

"Who's there?!"

He felt a presence enveloping the area.

_Do you wish to save that girl?_

"I don't know who you are, but are you the one who teleported me into the darkness?"

_Yes. I'm a manifestation of your overwhelming desire to save that girl. If you're willing, this girl will be saved._

Touma was supposed to be inside a hospital when his world turned into complete darkness.

"... I see. Can she really be saved?"

Due to severe brain damage, the doctor has already declared her a vegetable. It would take a miracle for her to wake up. She's as good as dead.

But...

_Like I said, if you're willing, this girl will be saved._

"I will do anything so long as you save her."

_This girl will be saved if you're willing to exchange your soul for a miracle. After that, you have only one year left to live before you die._

"Is there any other option? I don't want to die... I still want to spend the rest of my life with her."

_Most people would die immediately without a soul. You're special enough to have one year before your death._

"I see."

For a long while, there was silence.

Touma decided on his answer.

"I agree."

He blinked, and found himself back in the hospital.

The girl's eyes was already open, though hazy.

"Touma, is that you? I thought that I'd never see you again."

As promised, the miracle came true.

Touma smiled, wiping away a tear that has escaped from his eyes.

"You're finally awake, Misaki."

* * *

**Part 2**

Academy City.

A city of science with technology 30 years ahead of the rest.

80% of its 2.3 million inhabitants are students.

60% of the students who went through the Power Curriculum System in this city are known as epsers.

Espers are people who could do things such as throwing fireballs or shoot lightning from their bodies.

They were ranked from Level 0 to Level 5, with Level 0s being the weakest, and Level 5s being the strongest.

However, only 3 people out of the 2.3 million inhabitants achieved Level 5.

Standing in front of Kamijou Touma was a boy with blonde, dirty hair.

Kakine Teitoku, the strongest Level 5 known as Dark Matter.

They were both inside an abandoned factory.

Teitoku shot out a few Dark Matter spears from his white seraph wings. Touma grabbed a spear with his right hand. It burst into a white barrier, shielding him from the other spears.

"This is really interesting. Just about three months ago, you're just a Level 0 who could only negate esper abilities with your right hand. What's this?"

"Manipulation."

It seems that without a soul, Touma could now do things that he normally would not have been able to do.

His Imagine Breaker which manifested itself in the form of his right hand could now manipulate any esper abilities that came into contact instead of negating.

"You really think that you can defeat me just like that?"

To completely destroy the Exterior project which caused Misaki's permanent brain damage, Touma needed to take down an influential company behind it that made up half of the darkness in Academy City.

Defeating Teitoku was the final step in his plan. If Touma succeeded in defeating him, all investors would lose confidence in the company and withdraw their investments, leaving it with zero capital flow.

"That's not all I can do."

"Entertain me a little longer then, third-rate."

The both began moving at superhuman speeds.

A loud noise rang out as Touma's right fist clashed against Teitoku's Dark Matter

Only one of them will fall.

And that surely would not be Touma.

* * *

**A/N: **Just a short preview I guess (?) before I finish the main chapter on Friday or Saturday latest.

Greatly inspired by CrossFaded's Mirage To Keep You Safe backstory. There are also other elements from his other stories which I liked, but that's in Chapter 1. Go check his stories out if you haven't!

That being said, if you absolutely hate NTR, stay away from Chapter 1.

If you're wondering what's NTR, it's something like cheating on your loved ones. Just google it or something if you aren't so sure.

Can't really expect you to enjoy the prologue but I do hope its intriguing enough for you to look forward to Chapter 1.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

**Critical Heart Break. Only_Path_For_You**

* * *

**Part 1**

It was morning.

Touma opened a window, allowing the sunlight to enter the room.

Like a vampire afraid of the sunlight, Misaki covered her body with a blanket.

Touma shook her, "Oi Misaki, its morning already, wake up."

"I'm still a patient so I need more rest. Go away."

"Still a patient? You've already been discharged, now wake up."

"But I'm on medication, so I'm still considered a patient."

"Do you need me to get a dictionary to prove that a person on medication does not equal to patient? You're so hard to wake up in the morning."

Misaki rolled to the side, "Then leave me alone until noon or something... I'm so sleepy."

"You leave me no choice."

Touma pulled the blanket away, exposing Misaki to the sunlight. As if struck by lightning, Misaki hopped off her bed.

She rubbed her eyes, "How cruel. Despite knowing that I can't sleep under bright light, you took away my blanket."

"Just brush your teeth already. I'll prepare breakfast as soon as you're done."

Misaki nodded as she dragged herself to the toilet like a zombie.

Shokuhou Misaki. A girl with long, flowing blonde hair who can be really difficult to wake in the morning. However, because Touma had lived with Misaki for a long time even before moving into Academy City, he knew exactly how to wake her up.

Touma headed to the kitchen, and cracked open an egg.

A sizzling sound could be heard as the fragrance drifted from the kitchen to the dining table.

Misaki leaned her head on one hand and sighed, "Why can't we have cake for breakfast? A large strawberry milkshake would be nice as well!"

"Because its unhealthy. Do you want to get diabetes before the age of 20?"

"It's a small price to pay for my love for sweets. Anyway, I think Academy City has found a cure for diabetes."

"Though it's in the beta stages and nobody knows whether it'll actually work."

Touma served a plate on the table.

"One egg?" Misaki asked.

Normally, there would be two eggs. One for her, and one for Touma.

"That's for me. As for you..."

Touma took out a chocolate parfait and a large cup of chocolate milk from the fridge, "Here's your breakfast. Although it's very unhealthy to eat something like this for breakfast, but I think once in a long while would be fine."

Misaki blinked, "Is this a dream? Am I seeing things?!"

Touma laughed, "No. Just dig in already."

"Uwah! This is the best day of my life!"

Misaki happily took large scoops of parfait while Touma finished his egg in one mouthful.

He watched Misaki finishing the last of her parfait before moving on to her milk.

A simple girl who would smile even brighter than the blonde on her hair if you give her anything sweet. Her cute smile could still be seen even as she gulped down her milk.

If only she could keep on smiling like this, but... fate is so cruel.

"What's wrong?" Misaki asked as she finished her milk.

"It's nothing."

She frowned, "Oh," before her smile returned, "Then I'll leave this to you."

Misaki had a cutesy pose as she made a vertical v-shaped sign, "Because you're my boyfriend that's why."

"Yes, my queen," Touma sighed and headed to the kitchen and did the dishes.

A short while after they moved into Academy City, their relationship advanced from childhood friends to a couple. Even before that, the both were known as the misfortunate couple.

Misaki had literal starry eyes, so people viewed her as a circus freak. Meanwhile, Touma would bring misfortune wherever he went, so he was viewed as a plague god. Together, they were beaten up, humiliated, and being scorned at.

Misaki's parents abandoned her at the age of 5 because they eventually could not accept her the way she was.

Or so it seems.

Nobody really knew why but according to Touma's parents, this must be the reason. Out of kindness, they adopted Misaki.

Things only got worse as time went by, so the both were sent to Academy City, where the people over there are less likely to judge Misaki due to its advanced technology, and Touma since they only believe in science, and not in supernatural things such as luck.

However, Academy City was no paradise. For the lucky ones, they might be able to live a normal, peaceful life without ever coming into contact with the darkness.

They were the unlucky ones.

Touma wiped the dishes clean, and he saw Misaki on the game console, playing a fighting game against an AI.

"I thought you would be playing Puzzle Quest or something."

"I'm moving out of my comfort zone. Why don't you play with me?"

Touma sat beside Misaki and took a controller, "Just for a while. I still have to go to the hospital to collect your medicine."

"Okay."

He found it strange that Misaki, a god in every puzzle and board games would be bad in fighting games.

Her character positioning was rather unpredictable, her attacks well-timed, just that it wasn't the correct attack for the situation.

"Maybe you should start doing the dishes for once. I should finally finish Death and move on."

"You mean that boring House Of The Dead game you were playing? I don't see anything fun in it. All you do is shoot, shoot, shoot."

"All you do is move pieces around, how is that fun anyway?"

Misaki dodged Touma's opening jab that would lead to his finisher combo, "Each move requires a hell lot of thinking. You've gotta think like seven moves in advance, and each response from my opponent would almost always change that seven moves, except for you because you're an idiot."

Touma blocked Misaki's counter kick, and began to chain a combo, finishing Misaki off.

"You're the idiot here. You could have used your finisher directly, drain all my remaining guard gauge and still deal a significant amount of damage."

Misaki stared at the controller, puzzled. "Eh? Did I somehow mispress a button? But I'm sure that I memorized all the movesets perfectly... especially the finishers."

"I think you just didn't have enough physical strength to press all the buttons fast enough. Maybe if you exercise more, and eat less dessert, I'm sure you'll be able to beat me."

Misaki pouted, "Are you saying that I'm growing fatter? That's mean."

"No, no, that's not what I mean at all! You'll always be that lovely queen in my eyes."

Touma held Misaki's hand, "But it's medicine time."

"Shit."

"Don't move."

Misaki let out a dramatic sigh, "What's the point really. You'll have to let go anyway."

"I noticed a few biscuit tins in the 3rd row of the kitchen cabinet that hasn't been opened for a long time. Why don't we give it to the neighbour next door?"

Misaki's face went pale, "D-Don't do anything silly! I swear next time I'll hide it somewhere so hidden that not even you can find it!"

"Good luck then. Sit still while I get your medicine."

Those biscuit tins were Misaki's paradise tins filled with everything sweet and edible.

"Open your mouth." Touma said.

Misaki stared at the black liquid with disgust, "Can I not eat my medicine just for today?"

"Do you want your cold to come back again? An ill Misaki is banned from anything sweet."

She swallowed it at once, twisting her face as the bitter exploded in her mouth.

"There. A good queen must be able to experience bitterness with her people, right? Anyway, I think I'll be back really late today, so if you're hungry, there's a takoyaki bun inside the fridge."

"Work?"

"Yeah, work."

Misaki nodded, "See you."

Touma closed the door behind him.

I guess this will be the last time seeing you smile.

* * *

**Between The Lines 1**

"How serious is it?"

Touma was inside a frog-faced doctor's office.

The doctor shook his head as he read the report, "The good news is that your cancer is spreading at a rather slow rate. The bad news is that your condition goes beyond incurable... Even I can't save you. I don't understand why nothing is working."

The frog-faced doctor was Heaven Canceller. His great medical ability and experience allowed him to heal practically any sickness or injury, even if it is terminal. Some say that he is so skilled that he could even distort God's rules.

However, Touma became an exception for the first time in his life.

"If that's the case, why don't you replace all my organs with mechanical ones? I've heard about the cyborg technology announced just a few days ago."

"Unfortunately, it would take years before it is fully developed, and knowing Academy City, they would rather first focus on creating new cyborgs from scratch and external weaponized body parts than mechanical organs to replace dying organs."

Because Academy City favors developing military technology over any other technologies, despite having technology 30 years ahead of the rest, there was no groundbreaking developments that could change the world for the better. For example, the cure for AIDS, solving world hunger etc.

"... So there's no other way?"

"Perhaps if you tell me in detail how did you end up like this, I might be able to figure out a way to cure you."

"I traded my soul for a miracle. The voice said I was special because I still had one year left to live. Normally, I would have died instantly."

The doctor took a pen and paper and began jotting down notes.

"Who is that voice?"

"Apparently, it's a manifestation of my overwhelming desire to save her."

The doctor nodded, "And who is that 'her' you're referring to?"

"... My girlfriend."

"Your girlfriend must be worried sick all the time. After all, you're only one hospitalization away to break your previous record for the highest rate of hospitalization in a single month."

Touma smiled weakly, "What I can say, I'm the most misfortunate person ever lived after all."

Somehow, after entering Academy City, Touma was no longer a plague god that brought along misfortune wherever he went.

He thought that his life with Misaki would change for the better inside that city. However, because of the darkness in that city, it was actually no different from his life outside of Academy City, just that it changed form.

"Do you know that without a soul, you will die? You should have been dead from the moment you traded a soul for a miracle. I think I understand why nothing seems to be working. You're already dead; a soulless being whose lifespan will expire in one year. "

If Touma is already dead, then not even Heaven Canceller can help him.

"Then is it possible to extend my lifespan?"

Heaven Canceller looked through the notes he had jotted down. "I think... what may be keeping you alive for one year is your misfortune."

He took out a smartphone from his white coat and downloaded an application that generates random dice rolls.

"Let's make a bet. If it's 6, you lose. You win if I roll any other number."

For seven consecutive rolls, it was 6.

"Doctor, what are you trying to do? Isn't it obvious that my misfortune would ensure that I lose every single bet?" Touma asked.

"Are you familiar with the probability formula? The chances of throwing 6 consecutively for seven times is around 0.000003%. Let's roll the die one more time."

The eighth roll was still a 6.

"The odds of you getting a 6 for eight consecutive times is extremely low, yet you still managed to achieve that by losing. Your misfortune is actually some kind of a miracle in disguise. One year is probably how far your misfortune can bend reality to keep you alive. Do you understand what I mean now?"

"But how are you going to use my misfortune to extend my lifespan?"

"I believe you'll have to find the answer to that yourself before you die. I have no idea myself. I think England might be a good place to start. It's a magical country full with knowledge of the occult which may provide you with some answers."

"Magic?"

"It's a power gained from believing in a spiritual source. I've heard about how different it is from science but I don't know about the details. I think it's worth a try."

"Just how powerful it is?"

"At the top is a being known as a Magic God. If I'm not wrong, this being can do anything. No matter how impossible, it can be done."

Heaven Canceller sighed, "If you somehow become a Magic God, you can definitely cure your illness. However, it'll take at least a thousand year for a normal person to become one."

Some colour entered the bleak landscape within Touma's mind.

"I'm not exactly a normal person. I think I've found the answer to that question. I'll use my misfortune to become a Magic God."

Touma stood up, "Thank you, doctor."

"Well, it's not exactly impossible to use your misfortune. After all, it's a different kind of miracle. One last thing, you really don't want your girlfriend to know?"

It was obvious when Touma requested no data of his condition to be stored inside the hospital.

"Soon, she'll be a stranger."

And Touma slammed the door behind him.

* * *

**Part 2  
**

"How have you been feeling?" Rikou asked.

"Great! I'm feeling better than ever."

Takitsubo Rikou, a girl with short, black hair was walking along the streets with Misaki. She was Misaki's classmate and only best friend.

"Are you sure you're fine?"

"Of course, why do you ask?"

"Then why are you holding my hand so tightly?"

"What are you talking about? I'm just a little nervous."

Because of the brain damage she suffered, Misaki temporarily lost her Mental Out, an esper ability that allows one to freely manipulate the human mind. However, after three months of rest in the hospital, her ability was returning, though her current level was probably at around Level 1 or so.

"If you're that scared, why don't you wait until you fully recover your Mental Out?"

"Because I want to choose the ingredients myself. It's a surprise for him!"

"Oh, you mean that Kamijou? I really don't know what you see in him. Personally, I think he's a lousy boyfriend who should burn in hell. Whenever he pokes his nose into things that doesn't concern him just because he wants to play hero, it's when he ends up in the hospital that you know what was going on the whole time."

"He just doesn't want me to worry, that's all."

"That's the point. He doesn't allow you to worry about him. You're his girlfriend, you should be a part of his world as well. If he wants to be a hero, than he should let you become a hero together with him. Not hiding things just because he wants to 'protect' you."

When it comes to Touma, Rikou had a lot of things to say. Despite Rikou being a person who always shows little emotion, Misaki could tell that Rikou hated Touma with a passion. A 'You're not treating my best friend good enough' kind of hate.

In truth, ever since they entered Academy City, Misaki felt Touma drifting further apart from her. If Touma was a busybody hero, then she would fight alongside him to save people. However, he was always denying her a chance because he kept on hiding things from her.

Rikou was not wrong to say that Touma wanted to prevent Misaki from being a part of his world to 'protect' her because he thinks it's too dangerous.

Misaki switched to her optimistic thinking and smiled, "Do you know that today for the first time, he finally allowed me to have dessert for breakfast? I'm sure my heartfelt surprise in return by cooking a really good meal for him is the first step for us to build a healthy relationship where none of us would keep things from each other!"

"That's unexpectedly naïve. Well, unless your Mental Out can somehow make you invincible against any damage like that #1's Relfection, you're just wasting your time. Even so, he'll just bullshit some kind of excuse anyway."

Sometimes, Rikou's bluntness was like a sharp knife through her heart. Misaki did not hold it against Rikou for pointing out the truth. Her optimistic thinking was probably too optimistic. The root cause of the problem was really the type of ability she had.

If only I had a stronger ability, then Touma would allow me to fight alongside with him.

They passed by a crowd in front of a bank with the shutter down. Since it was afternoon, and the bank only closes in the evening, this was a sign that the bank was being robbed.

A young girl with a flower headband and a Judgement armband on her left went from person to person in the crowd, begging them to save a fellow Judgement girl trapped inside.

"Please save her."

She was looking at both Misaki and Rikou. However, Rikou's ability was known as AIM Stalker, an ability that can track any esper through their AIM field. There was nothing the both could do to help this girl since their abilities were support-type abilities, not combat-type abilities.

A brown-haired girl tapped the girl's shoulder and smiled.

"I'll save her."

She stepped out of the crowd, flicked a coin up. Landing on her thumb, she fired an orange beam from that thumb, blowing away the shutters, exposing a robber with a knife facing a girl with auburn twin pigtails wearing a Judgement armband on her left. The both were knocked sideways from the impact.

With a flick of her wrist, lightning shot out from her hand, incapacitating the robber.

Her electrifying presence drew cheers from the crowd.

"Let's go." Rikou said.

Misaki sighed, "If only I was as strong as her, then maybe Touma would stop hiding things from me... and maybe ask me for help instead."

"Well, if you're a Level 5 just like her, who knows."

"You mean she's a Level 5?! But there's only 3 Level 5s in the city. The chances of one appearing is incredibly low. Are you really sure?"

Rikou nodded, "My ability won't lie to me. She's definitely Misaka Mikoto, the first female esper who reached Level 5."

The AIM field of a Level 5 was so large that Rikou could easily detect it without any aid from Body Crystal to completely activate her ability.

And at that instant, Misaki found the answer to the problem between her and Touma.

"Then I'll become a Level 5 as well. I'll work very hard so that I'm worthy enough to be a part of his world. That's one problem solved. Now I wonder what should I cook for him?"

Misaki's smile outshone even the bright afternoon sun. Even the normally blunt Rikou didn't have the heart to point out that being a Level 5 isn't only achieved by working hard.

* * *

**Part 3  
**

Inside a fancy, high-class restaurant was Touma and Mikoto.

Soothing violin music could be heard playing in the background.

"Is the steak overcooked or something? Why aren't you eating?" Mikoto said.

"Because you're cute, just watching you eat is enough already."

"Idiot. You don't have go so far to compliment me like that. Aren't you hungry?"

Touma shook his head, "Maybe I shouldn't have ordered food."

"At least take a bite or something. It's not good if you go hungry."

Touma took a bite, "There. Are you happy, my dear Mikoto."

Mikoto kept silent and finished her steak. She paid for the meal (Touma's included) and left the restaurant holding Touma's hand.

Neon lighting and the crowd made the nightlife in District 7 vibrant. Couples like them could be seen holding hands under the glittering, starry night sky.

"This isn't right, you know? I'm not some slut who likes being with another girl's boyfriend."

This afternoon, after seeing Touma's girlfriend in person, Mikoto felt all the more guilty for holding his hand.

Before she met Touma, Mikoto was a Level 5 esper blackmailed by the Kumokawa Corporation, a company so powerful that it ruled over half of Academy City's darkness to work for them.

With his help, and the Kiharas, in three months, the company went under when all the investors withdrew their investments.

Around that time, Touma confessed his feelings to her.

Even though he had a girlfriend, she accepted it.

_"I already had no more feelings for that girl lying in the hospital before I met you."_

That was what he said.

Mikoto shook Touma's hand off, "Didn't you say that you had no more feelings for her? When are you going to break up with her? It's been already a week since she's been discharged from the hospital."

The both stopped walking.

"I'm just waiting for the right time."

"Or are you planning to keep me as your mistress? Honestly, it disgusts me. If that's the case, then we should just break up."

"Can you really bear to leave me?"

Touma attempted to pull Mikoto close, but she pushed him away.

"Th-Then just break up with your girlfriend already! I lo-love you, and I don't want to leave you, but I can't stand being a third-party, you know?"

Mikoto averted her gaze, face burning red.

In her life, Touma was the first person other than her parents to show care and love towards her. An important person who changed her life as well.

Even if her rational mind concluded that she should leave this two-timer as soon as possible, her heart would not agree. Like a lamb hopelessly fallen into his trap called love.

Touma touched her soft, red cheeks and redirected her gaze straight into his eyes.

"I love you too. Look, I'll break up with her tomorrow. I promise."

"You promise?"

Touma kissed her on the lips, "I promise."

Reluctantly, Mikoto took hold of Touma's hand again.

"Let's go. Maybe we can stroll in the park for a while before going home. The air is really good today."

Touma nodded and the both began walking again.

Beneath the charming facade was a broken, empty man.

* * *

**Part 4  
**

"Hey, be careful with the knife."

Rikou watched Misaki as she chopped carrots, making sure that the blade would not chop her fingers by accident.

"If only cooking was as simple as the cooking puzzle game I played a few days ago. "

The kitchen was filled with ingredients that Misaki and Rikou bought from the supermarket.

For dinner, they were preparing a few dishes that Misaki looked up online. The extra ingredients were for practice purposes.

"Is it really okay that I stay for dinner as well? Wouldn't I get in your way?" Rikou asked.

"It's okay. The more the merrier."

"Isn't this supposed to be a romantic surprise or something? "

"I never said it was one."

Misaki and Touma had lived together for so long that their relationship was more of a married couple. There was no need for Misaki's surprise to be something particularly romantic.

"I see."

Rikou finished chopping potatoes and put them inside a pot filled with boiling water.

"Unfortunately, I can't stay for dinner."

"Why?"

"I have a job at 9 which would probably end at 11. No meals two hours before a job."

"So fast?"

"Well, even I'm surprised that ITEM found a new backer that fast. At least I'm no longer on permanent leave."

"Why do you keep working for the darkness? Aren't you scared?"

Through the Exterior project, Misaki had a taste of how scary the darkness can be.

Betrayal, lies and deceit. The ugly side of the human nature on full display within the darkness.

"I've sunk too deep already. There's no turning back for me."

Rikou's valuable AIM Stalker that could track down any esper made it impossible for her to live a normal life.

If she wasn't willing to work for the darkness anymore, then it'll definitely find ways to ensure that she would change her mind. Once you are deemed as valuable to the darkness, there's no escaping.

"You're really lucky that your Kamijou managed to save you from that darkness."

Misaki smiled and made a horizontal v-shaped sign, "Because he's my boyfriend, that's why."

She switched on the stove, added a layer of oil in a wok and began to stir fry meat. After five times of practice under Rikou's supervision, Misaki could finally handle the wok.

She was thankful that Touma saved her from the darkness, and the other incident when the Kumokawa Corporation sent someone to attack her as a warning because the genius girl Kumokawa Seria managed to figure out the identity of the masked person (Touma) attempting to take her company down.

Fortunately, Touma did succeeded in destroying the company a day after her discharge from the hospital.

But Misaki felt that if she managed to deal with both incidents alone without Touma's help, then maybe he would find her worthy enough to be a part of his world, and so reduce the distance between them.

Am I really just a burden to him?

Misaki sighed as she scooped the meat into a plate.

Rikou took off her apron, "Can you handle this all by yourself? I've got to go now. It's already 8."

"Sure thing."

After a few minutes of cooking, Misaki noticed a clear case containing a white, powdery substance on the table.

"Did Rikou left this by accident?"

She reached for her phone and called Rikou.

Engaged?

Without the Body Crystal, Rikou could not completely activate her ability. This could mean life and death especially for her who was working for the darkness.

I think I still can catch up with her.

And after switching off the stove, she headed for the door.

* * *

**Part 5  
**

Rikou stepped out of the dormitory building, and made a phone call.

"Kinuhata, it may be too early of me to ask, but are you already prepared?"

"Super prepared. Don't worry, we won't screw this up. It's our super first job since ages after all."

"That's good."

Ever since the company (Kumokawa Corporation) that ITEM was working for went under, they suffered a severe loss in reputation. Nobody wanted to hire them anymore... at least until today.

An influential backer saw their potential and decided to purchase them from the Kumokawa Corporation. It wasn't enough to revive the company, but at least their boss, Kumokawa Seria won't be declared bankrupt.

Oh yeah. I forgot to tell Misaki that I left a Body Crystal case for her if she gets into any trouble.

Mental Out at Level 1 is only limited to Telepathy. However, by consuming Body Crystal, Misaki could temporarily boost her level back to Level 4, which enables her to create illusions and fully control up to 3 people at once. It wasn't healthy to rely on it, but occasional use until she recovers should be okay.

Just when Rikou was about to dial Misaki's number, she saw Touma holding hands with that Level 5, Misaka Mikoto.

She walked up towards them.

"What are you doing?"

Rikou stared at Mikoto with her default expressionless look. So cold that Mikoto felt as though winter had arrived.

"Are you his girlfriend?"

"Yes."

"Do you know that he already have a girlfriend?"

"... I do?"

"Then why are you sticking onto him like a slut?"

Mikoto shook off Touma's hand, electricity bolts dancing around her hair.

"I'm not a slut."

Touma took Mikoto's hand back, "I only have feelings for her now."

"You have feelings for not only a slut, but a monster as well? An angel on the surface, but a disgusting monster as cruel as Mugino on the inside." Rikou said.

A lightning bolt went over Rikou's shoulder. Despite that, her cold stare never wavered.

Mikoto said, "I think I know who you are now. Takitsubo Rikou, am I right? Are you friends with that starry-eyed girl?"

She realized that Rikou was the girl who was with Misaki this afternoon. A member of ITEM, the group that Mikoto took on all by herself during the final phase of Touma's plan to destroy the Kumokawa Corporation and won.

"If you mean Shokuhou Misaki, yes. In case you don't know, she's Kamijou's girlfriend."

Rikou turned towards Touma, "Why? Is Misaki that bad of a girlfriend? Or do you actually find her a burden? Must have been really tough on you to hide so many things from her just because you wanted to 'protect' her. Now you've found a monster bitch slut who could fight alongside with yo-"

"Hey, watch it." Mikoto cut in, annoyed, "You aren't any better yourself."

Rikou ignored her, "Why are you two-timing Misaki? If you finally realized that she's isn't the right person for you, then break up with her. Do you really think that you could eat your cake and still have it?"

"I will break up with her tomorrow." Touma said.

"Okay. Here's hoping that your relationship with that relationship wrecker slut will end in ruins."

"I'm not a relationship wrecker!" Mikoto said, "He said that he had no more feelings for her before he met me."

Rikou flipped open her phone to check for any incoming messages from her team members, "Is that so, relationship wrecker slut? That's none of my business. Just make sure that Kamijou breaks up with his girlfriend by tomorrow." and walked away.

Touma sighed, "Let's go to the park tomorrow, I'm tired."

"Okay."

"I promise, I'll break up with her tomorrow."

Mikoto smiled, "I believe you."

The both parted ways.

Hidden behind a street lamp was a trembling blonde, starry-eyed girl clutching a clear case.

Her phone began to ring.

And Touma heard it.

* * *

**Part 6  
**

"Welcome back! I have a surprise for you."

Misaki gestured towards the dining table. Two bowls of rice, one pot of potato soup, and stir-fried meat.

"You cooked all of this?"

"Of course! Do you like it? I'm sure you'll like it. I put in a lot of effort in it. I made sure that I picked the best ingredients from the supermarket. For some reason, the aircon there is really cold today."

Touma thought that Misaki would go with the usual. Two sets of microwaved food. Because she's a lazy ass who would rather play puzzle games all day, Touma would always be the one to prepare dinner. All his attempt in teaching her to cook dinner failed.

_"Because you're my boyfriend, so it's your responsibility to cook for me."_

Was her usual protest each time Touma tried.

Yet in front of his eyes were Misaki's cooking.

Misaki tugged at Touma, "Come on, let's eat already! Aren't you hungry after work? Even though I laze around all day, but playing puzzle games takes a lot of brain power you know? And cooking as well! I'm hungry too, so let's eat already!"

She heard everything. That ringtone was definitely hers.

Misaki wasn't being herself. Her lengthy speech pattern was enough proof. Her smile, an act. That, Touma could feel it.

She's trying so hard to salvage this relationship.

"I've eaten already."

Her smile vanished. Just when it seemed that Misaki was about to burst into tears, she managed a quick smile, though much subdued than before.

"Then... at least eat a little?"

But if I eat just one more bite, I'll start puking. I can't give her even one clue that I'm dying.

"I'm full."

Touma left for his room and shut the door.

Misaki ate her dinner in tears.

* * *

**Part 7  
**

It was a bright, sunny morning.

The cheerful atmosphere felt forced, like a mask hiding the sadness within.

Touma stepped into the living room and smelled food.

"Breakfast will be ready, so just wait a while longer."

Misaki in the kitchen, cooking breakfast. An incredibly rare sight.

Any other normal day, and Touma would have cried tears of joy

However, there was only pain.

Physically, it was getting worse. Multiple blades were stabbing even harder and faster at his stomach. He also began coughing blood out more frequently. Probably around two weeks later, he would not be able to hide it from her.

Mentally, the pain from breaking up with her, and to trample upon her efforts to try to prevent this.

Misaki served pancakes, eggs and a cup of milk.

"I spent all night trying to perfect this meal for you. I hope you like it."

"I'm not hungry. I'll skip breakfast and eat outside for lunch, so you don't have to cook another set for yourself."

"You don't like it? I'll cook whatever you like... so please give me a chance."

"Like I said, I'm not hungry, so don't bother."

Misaki held back her tears, "A small bite wouldn't hurt? Just a really small bite?"

Touma was not lying when he said he wasn't hungry. He had no appetite for food because of his cancer.

I would have eaten the whole thing. And I would have said that your cooking is wonderful even though it'll probably taste horrible because I want to encourage you to start preparing breakfast and dinner so that I can finally have more time for that House Of The Dead game, but I can't. Even I want to, I fucking can't. God damm it!

Touma did a better job in holding back his tears. Misaki noticed nothing as Touma kept his calm, yet slightly tired look.

"No."

A moment of silence passed. Misaki wiped a few tears away and smiled.

"How about you skip work and stay home with me? I'm lonely. We could play fighting games on the console. Or puzzle, or whatever you like. Anything you want really. So long as you stay home with me. I'll do my best to entertain you, so please stay."

Touma clenched his jaws.

I cannot let my heart waver here.

Her pleading look almost succeeded.

But fate is so cruel.

"Just fuck off."

Touma closed the door behind him.

Misaki ate her breakfast in tears.

* * *

**Part 8  
**

Touma picked up a small Gekota keychain.

He was inside the largest Gekota store in District 7. To Mikoto, a paradise, for Gekota was her favourite frog mascot.

Her tastes can really be so childish.

He sighed.

I wonder if I were to give this to Misaki, would she like it? Or would she prefer something edible and sweet as usual?

Touma glanced towards a bag of Gekota-shaped chewy gums.

Yesterday night, instead of confronting Mikoto, Misaki chose to hide and pretend that she knew nothing while doing her best to change things in the background.

For Touma who knew her past, it was especially heartbreaking.

I know why she's doing this.

Afraid of being abandoned once again if she were to confront Touma directly.

He went to the cashier and paid for the keychain.

It was easy to tell that Misaki followed him for some time already. A quick, side glance at a car window was enough.

Today was the supposed day that he would break up with Misaki. If it wasn't for yesterday, Touma would not have been able to come up with a good reason. Just saying he wanted to break up with her would create too much suspicion.

Yes, so you finally realize that you should stop being a burden and at least start doing some household chores to help poor Kamijou out... but that's the real you, and that's the Misaki I love.

Touma stole a glance through a glass panel. Misaki was trembling, and panting heavily as she desperately tried to keep up.

The price of being so lazy. That's why I always say stop being lazy and start exercising more.

Touma wanted to smile at his failed attempts in getting her to exercise as well. Extremely stubborn.

But he can't. If Touma were to smile, he felt that he might really turn behind, hug Misaki and tell her everything.

The show must go on.

He was about to put on his best performance in a show that would certainly crush Misaki's heart into pieces.

* * *

**Part 9  
**

Under the shade of a large tree, Mikoto stared at a group of kids playing soccer on the field to her right.

That's nice. I wish my childhood was like that as well.

Her father disappeared when his company went bust, leaving her mother with a huge debt to pay off.

At that time, Mikoto was a Level 1 esper in Academy City. Kumokawa Corporation offered to pay off all the debt, in exchange for Mikoto's participation in a long-term research project in muscular dystrophy.

Seeing that Mikoto would be able to help those people walk again, and also pay off all their debts, her mother happily agreed.

_"Mikoto, do your best in the research project! This power of yours could create a miracle for a lot of those people."_

What bullshit.

Starting from age 6, Mikoto had to take on jobs for the company. They said it was a preparation course for the project.

The jobs were simple enough.

Kill, kill, kill.

Mikoto hated killing.

For a year, she believed that if she kept on killing, eventually when she was ready for the research project, the amount of people saved would outweigh the amount of people. A necessary sacrifice.

At age 7, Mikoto realized that what the company wanted was her ability to generate profits by taking up jobs which usually involves killing.

Research project to help people cure muscular dystrophy? A fucking lie.

It was already too late when her mother signed the contract.

If Mikoto wanted out, her mother would be in a heavier debt than before for breaching the contract, or they would kill her mother.

Her childhood only consisted of killing.

It was hell.

It was lonely.

Nobody was there for her.

Until Touma came into her life, and destroyed the company.

Mikoto jumped in surprise when Touma tapped her on the shoulders.

"Sorry I'm late."

Mikoto smiled, "It's okay."

Touma sat beside Mikoto, "Good weather, isn't it?"

Blue skies, fluffy clouds. A breeze blew across them.

"Yeah."

They were contented with looking at the sky in complete silence.

After a long while, Mikoto broke the silence.

"Have you broken up with your girlfriend?"

Touma did not turn back to face Mikoto, "The day isn't over yet."

"… What's wrong?"

A regretful expression had formed on Touma's face. He stared at the sky, lost in thoughts.

This future I had envisioned together with her has been destroyed to the point where it hurts so much.

Mikoto said, "I know that you might be feeling guilty at hurting her feelings. After all, you two have come a long way since the day you two met in Academy City right? But I think sometimes you just have to be a little selfish when it comes to love. She'll probably get over it after a week or so."

If that's the case, I'll destroy it to the point where it can't be even called a future anymore.

"Are you listening? Are you okay?"

Touma shook his head, "Oh, it's nothing."

Mikoto felt relieved upon seeing Touma smile again.

He took out a small Gekota keychain from his pocket, "Here, it's for you. Since I'm going to break up with her anyway, I consider you as my new official girlfriend."

"Th-Thank you."

Mikoto grasped the keychain in her palm. For the first time, she felt happiness bringing warmth to her cold, lonely heart.

Touma pulled Mikoto close, "Hey, try and relax a little, okay?"

"Wh-What are yo-you trying to do?!"

He pressed his lips onto her lips, his tongue reaching inside her mouth, intertwining with Mikoto's tongue.

Mikoto stiffened up. Unable to take this, she pushed him away and fired a lightning bolt with her face even redder than a tomato.

Touma waved the bolt away, "That's why I said, relax a little."

"I th-think we sh-should do th-those k-kind of things after we're married!"

"It's just kissing, many couple do that as well."

"But we're in public!"

"A public display of my affection towards you."

Mikoto folded her arms and turned away, "Idiot. It's so embarrassing outside."

From her hiding spot, Misaki ran away in tears.

Her heart has been utterly crushed into pieces.

* * *

**Part 10  
**

It was sunset.

Mikoto walked through a path under a orange backdrop, headed towards her apartment.

She looked at the Gekota keychain, smiling, "That idiot. In the end, I had to wake him up."

The entire afternoon, Mikoto fell asleep in Touma's arms when she got too tired looking at the sky. Somehow, Touma fell asleep along the way.

Joy spread throughout her body at the thought of tomorrow.

Tomorrow onwards, I'm now his proper girlfriend!

Touma was now truly hers only. Mikoto no longer needed to feel guilty and frustrated at times from holding his hand.

She toyed the keychain around with a finger, "Where should we go tomorrow? What should we do tomorrow? Or maybe I'll have him to decide, but maybe amusement park might be nice. I heard there's a Gekota prize in one of the game booth."

Just when Mikoto was immersed in those happy thoughts, she heard a voice.

Turning behind, a blonde, starry-eyed girl could be seen.

Mikoto recognized this girl from her unique eyes.

Shokuhou Misaki.

"Is anything the matter?" Mikoto asked.

"Return Touma to me."

"Huh? He's not an object that I can return to you. I know that it's painful, but if you truly love him, then you should let him go. He's happier with me."

"You're lying! I can feel it in my heart that he's happier with me. Those times we spent at the hospital, and at home when he took care of m-"

"Is just an act?" Mikoto said, "He said that he had no more feelings for you even before he met me. It must have been some kind of problem between the two of you only. I don't think nothing would change even I were to 'return' him to you."

Misaki widened her eyes in shock, trembling.

Is it because I've always been a burden to Touma...?

"No... no... NO! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! IF YOU DIDN'T SEDUCE HIM, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!"

She opened a clear case containing a white substance and swallowed everything.

Misaki tilted her head, and gave off a chilling laughter like a crazed psychopath.

She took out a remote from her pocket, pointing it at Mikoto, "I'm sorry, but he's so precious to me. Don't worry, you won't even notice a thing."

Even if Mikoto was a Level 5, so long as she possessed a human brain, Mental Out would take effect regardless.

However, Misaki forgot to take into account external factors.

Such as the electromagnetic barrier surrounding Mikoto.

Mikoto felt as though someone swung a fist at her.

"What are you trying to do? That kinda hurts."

Misaki dropped the remote, "This can't be... why isn't my power working? Is it because I'm still not high leveled enough despite the Body Crystal? Why...?"

Mikoto sighed. She decided that a gentle pat to calm Misaki down would only make things worse, so Mikoto kept her distance.

"I think you really need some rest, and please don't do silly things like committing suicide. Your life doesn't revolve around one guy. I'm sure you can find a better guy."

She smiled, nodded and continued walking.

Misaki hurled the remote at her.

Mikoto deflected it with her lightning, looked back one more time before moving on.

Misaki ran off in the opposite direction as fast as she could.

* * *

**Part 11  
**

Touma entered his dorm apartment.

Sitting alone in the darkness was Misaki holding a controller in front of the TV.

He switched on the lights.

Chess?

The screen showed 0-13. Misaki 0, the AI opponent 13.

Misaki put down the controller, and turned off the TV.

"Welcome back. I'm sorry that I haven't prepared dinner yet." She took Touma's hand, Why don't we eat at a new restaurant today? I heard that the food there is really good. Okay? Or if you don't mind waiting, I can cook for you. Anything is fine with me."

Touma gently pushed Misaki's hand away, "I have something to tell you."

"What food would you like me to cook? Fried rice is easy and nice, but I think baked rice taste better. What do you think?"

"Misaki."

"Speaking about restaurants, I think that the Italian one is better than the French one. Chinese food isn't that bad, but the atmosphere isn't as romantic as Italian or French restaurants. But who cares about atmosphere, isn't enjoying the food most important?"

"Stop it."

"Hey, hey. Hurry up and make a decision already. It's 7.30pm, aren't you hungry?"

"Misaki!"

Silence ensued.

Misaki said, voice slightly trembling.

"Why do you want to break up with me? Is it because you really have no more feelings for me?"

Touma had rehearsed this scene so many times in his mind, ensuring that he would not shed a single tear while keeping his calm expression.

"Yes."

"Is it because find me a burden?"

"Yes."

Misaki took his hand, pressed it against her panties, rubbing it up and down.

"I see. Do you like it? Now I understand what you truly want. Misaka won't even allow you to kiss her, but I can offer you my body. You can do whatever you want with me so long as you're happy. I'll make you feel so good that you'll regain your feelings to me.

"Break up with her, and return to my side. I won't be your burden anymore. So long as you break up with her, anything you want me to do, I'll do it. Anything. I promise."

Touma pushed Misaki away in shock, "What the fuck are you doing?!"

Misaki took off her shirt, revealing a white bra, "Look, I have larger breasts than her. Don't you like girls with large breasts? I'm also offering three of my holes for your pleasure. Isn't that a good deal? Not to mention that I'll do anything. So don't say you want to break up with me. Break up with Misaka instead."

Touma trembled in anger, "Are you a fucking slut or something?! Put your fucking clothes back on! I have no feelings for you means I have no feelings for you! There's nothing you can do about it! Do you get it?!"

Misaki burst into tears, "I know that I always act like a spoilt queen! I'm always so lazy and like to push everything to you! I know maybe that's why you started to lose feelings for me, but I really want to make things right! Why won't you give me a chance?!

"I love you... I need you. Please don't abandon me like my parents! I'd do anything! Anything that you want! So please don't leave m-"

She clutched her head, and swayed about unsteadily.

"Ugh! Hehe, I'm such a bad girl. I wanted to mind control Misaka so that she'll leave you, but I failed. My powers won't work against her. I think I exceeded the consumption limit."

"Just what you did you eat?! Don't tell me yo-"

Misaki fell to the floor unconscious.

Touma knew what Misaki ate. Body Crystal. The only drug that could boost her Mental Out back to Level 4.

In front of an unconscious Misaki, Touma could not keep up his pretense anymore.

He hugged her, and started crying as well.

"I don't want a submissive Misaki, that's not you at all. I want the Misaki who's an asshole in probably everything. Even if you're a spoilt queen, I still love you! Even if you're a burden, I would still love you! It really hurts so much doing this to you!"

Touma dialed for an ambulance, put her clothes back on, kissed the unconscious Misaki on the lips before leaving.

"... But I'm the burden here."

He looked up at the night sky.

I'll definitely become a Magic God, and we'll be together once again, smiling.

I promise.

* * *

**Between The Lines 2**

It was past visiting hours.

However, Touma was still inside Misaki's ward.

"Aren't you ashamed that you're asking an elementary school student to do your middle school math homework?"

Misaki shook her head as she blazed through questions after questions.

"Well, it's your fault for asking me to play with you the whole afternoon."

"We were short of one Guardian, and I really wanted that boss item. At least I'm finishing your homework even though you fail as a Guardian."

"You equally fail as a Mesmer as well. That's why we took the whole afternoon and still got trashed by the boss."

Lying in bed all day got too boring for Misaki, so she started playing Guild Wars 2 on the laptop. Puzzle games were too easy, and posed no challenge to her.

After all, only the first week of her four months observational hospital stay plus rehabilitation has passed.

"Anyway, your turn. Are you stupid, or am I just too clever? Your homework is so easy. I thought that middle school math is really hard since I always see you frown in despair each time, but I guess you're really just stupid."

Because Math was like a puzzle game, after studying Touma's math textbook for 20 minutes, Misaki could easily finish his math homework.

On the overbed table was a chess board.

Touma moved his bishop to capture a pawn.

"I'd like to see you run seven rounds around the field without crying."

"Grr. We promised not to mention that ever again! Receive your punishment."

Misaki moved her queen towards a square beside Touma's king, "If the queen does not lead, how can she expect her pawns to follow. Watch as my queen will devour all your remaining pieces!"

"If you really think so, then let me crush that illusion of yours!"

Touma captured her queen with his king. Perhaps the chessmaster Misaki made a mistake because she was distracted with doing his homework as well.

"Idiot Touma. No wonder you suck in maths. The queen makes a heroic sacrifice for the greater good. Prepare to be humiliated by the real queen sitting in front of you."

Touma fell into her 'because it's idiot Touma, so it'll work' plan.

Thirteen moves later, Misaki captured all of Touma's pieces using two chariots, and a bishop.

"You're so cruel." Touma said.

"You deserve it for bringing that incident up."

"I'm sorry, queen."

Misaki nodded smugly, putting Touma's homework on the table, "Done. You know what to do tomorrow."

Touma kept the chessboard inside a small cabinet beside Misaki, "One large mango sundae, one chocolate milk and a bag of lollipops. How about I bring a huge jar of sugar as well?"

"That would not be necessary, my dear servant, I mean boyfriend. You may go and rest for the day."

Touma patted Misaki's head, "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow."

Misaki smiled, "See you."

It was around 11pm already, so not much people were on the streets.

"The convenience store is closed already? Oh well."

Touma passed by an alley and heard gunfire, followed by loud explosions.

He decided to investigate.

A man in a white lab coat stained red crashed into Touma.

As Touma got up, a few men in black suits pointed their gun at them.

Shit, not an esper?

He grabbed the man with a hand, and leapt onto a rooftop.

"Not bad, not bad."

A black-haired girl, with yellow at the ends of her bangs floated down on the rooftop.

"Why are you after this guy? Is this some kind of your darkness plan?"

Touma's first true experience with the darkness was Misaki's Exterior project. His previous encounters helping other people in need barely scratched the surface of the darkness.

After that, he began his descent into the darkness.

"You're rather strong judging from how you managed to hold a grown man with one hand before leaping around 50 meters into the air. Why is it that from your tone, you seem like a pure boy who has never experienced the reality of this city? Interesting."

"That's where you're wrong. I just haven't been exposed to it long enough."

The girl nodded, "I see. But I have a job to do. It's either you get the fuck away or I'll kill the both of you."

"Like hell I'll let you kill someone."

"Don't fucking bore me then."

The girl who was Kuroyoru Umidori created a nitrogen spear in one hand, and swung it horizontally towards Touma's neck.

Touma raised his right hand, and negated the spear.

Umidori blinked, "What?! Are you a nitrogen esper like that Kinuhata as well? No wonder. Wait, that's strange, why haven't I heard of you before if that's the case? Must be some hidden project by that Kumokawa again, though I suppose that masked hero is going to destroy that project again."

Unknown to Umidori, that masked hero was standing in front of her.

"Who knows. Leave now, or you'll regret it."

"That's the most funniest bullshit I've ever heard. The word regret does not exist in my dictionary."

Countless arms shot out from her body.

"Perhaps you should be the one regretting to even think of fighting me!"

Nitrogen lances poured in from all directions.

Touma grabbed one lance, and rest froze midair.

"What the hell?" Umidori said.

All the frozen lances moved in the opposite direction towards Umidori. She counterfired an equal amount of lances, and the resulting explosion shook the air.

Touma transformed the lance he was holding into a huge golf club, and crushed all the lances attempting to destroy his incoming club from Umidori's left side.

She tumbled forward, only to be smacked from the back into the sky like striking a golf ball.

He went over to the man, "Are you okay?!"

Blood was all over his body.

"I do-don't think I'll be able to make it to the hospital. You seem like a really strong guy, so if it's possible, could you at least fulfill my dying wish?"

"What is it?"

"Save a girl named Misaka Mikoto. I'm a friend of her mother."

He passed Touma a black PDA, "I'm sure you'll do a better job in using the contents inside to save her."

And he closed his eyes, never to awake again.

"Parameter List?"

It was a database of espers and their potential levels according to the description.

Touma clicked on the Level 5 column.

They were seven names inside.

#1: Accelerator

#2: Kakine Teitoku

#3: Misaka Mikoto

#4: Mugino Shizuri

#5: Shokuhou Misaki

#6: Unknown

#7: Sogiita Gunha (Pending)

There was a crackling sound, and the screen went black.

"Malfunctioned?"

A brown-haired girl was on the opposite rooftop.

"It's my electromagnetic pulse, if you're wondering. All data inside that PDA is forever lost."

Touma made the mistake of holding the PDA with his left hand.

"Who are you?"

"Misaka Mikoto."

It was the girl who the dying man wanted Touma saved.

"Why did you erase all the data inside? Your mother's friend was trying to use the Parameter List to save you. Or were you tricked into thinking it was something else by those bastards?"

Mikoto shook her head, "They said they would kill my mother if I did not kill him and make sure that the Parameter List isn't leaked out. Kuroyoru said she could handle it just fine, but I was wrong."

She fired a lightning bolt from her body, turning the dead man in a white lab coat into a black, unrecognizable mass.

"My job is done."

"Wait."

"What?"

"What did that guy wanted to save you from?"

"Nobody can save me. So long as I'm a Level 5, the darkness will not let me go unless I let them kill my mother, and destroy everything precious to me. If you've seen the list, unless you destroy Academy City, it's impossible for you to completely save the seven people on the list from the darkness because they are too valuable. I'm a living example."

Mikoto jumped off the rooftop, slowing her descent with electricity and left.

Touma clenched his fist in horror.

In exchange for a miracle to wake Misaki up from her permanent coma, he only had one year to live.

He thought that the Exterior project was some random mad genius plan by the Kumokawa Corporation. After destroying the company, Misaki would then live peacefully in Academy City forever.

However, the Parameter List proved him wrong.

I can't hide this forever from her.

Even if Touma took down the Kumokawa Corporation, the Kiharas would use his dying condition to force Misaki into participating in dangerous experiments to get her to Level 5.

I won't let them trap her because of me.

Touma made his decision.

I'll disappear from her life before she finds out.

* * *

**A/Ns: **I tried my best to make sure that this story doesn't become an idiot plot.

My writing style can be rather subtle, so there's quite a bit of reading between the lines required (I think), but of course, I try to explain things as much as I can without over explaining. But it's over 9k words, so you'll probably miss a few details here and there. Just ask if you have any questions.

I think I'll not specifically justify my reasons why 'Touma is breaking Misaki's heart intentionally isn't because the plot demands it and he is being unrealistically stupid' in the A/Ns and leave it to your interpretation instead.

Of course, if you find anything wrong, please do point it out. It's my first fanfic after all, and I'd appreciate help and support. ^^

To Guest: I think more specifically, it's really Touma having an affair with Mikoto. Not sure if it counts as NTR, but meh.

That's all from me.

Thanks for the support thus far!

**EDIT (21/12/2013): **Edited the timeline to make things clearer. (Thanks Morli)

For those who don't want to read through the whole thing again to figure the timeline thanks to my subtle writing style, I'll list the timeline below for you convenience.

Prologue Part 1: The day when Misaki awakes (One day before her four months observational hospital stay plus rehabilitation)

Prologue Part 2: The exact day when Misaki was discharged.

Chapter 1 Part 1-11: A week after Misaki was discharged

Chapter 1 Between The Lines 1: Some time probably around the second week of Misaki's four months hospital stay.

Chapter 1 Between The Lines 2: The first week of Misaki's four months hospital stay.

Since somebody asked about if its necessary to break Misaki's heart like that, I'll post my reply here.

"Is it really necessary to break Misaki heart like that?"

Firstly, consider Touma's personality.

Look at 'If Touma was a busybody hero, then she would fight alongside him to save people. However, he was always denying her a chance because he kept on hiding things from her.' in Part 2.

It would be OOC if Touma were to say something like "I'm dying. Let's face this together etc etc." Even if you consider canon, since when was Touma like that? It was only in NT9 when he finally asked for help.

Next, his Magic God plan.

He wouldn't let Misaki follow him because of his personality. See above. Besides, if he succeeds, he'll be able to erase the pain he caused to Misaki because he can do anything.

Lastly, Misaki's position in the darkness.

Would it be better if Misaki got sucked into the darkness without any emotional burden pulling her down, or let the darkness control her like a puppet by using Touma's dying condition? Remember that BTL 2 happened before BTL 1. This was Touma's original justification, further reinforced by his Magic God plan afterwards.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

**Set Into Motion. Too_Late_For_Regrets.**

* * *

**Part 1**

Touma sat alone on the bed in a small hotel room.

He let out a loud sigh, covering his face.

To think you'd go that far...

Their relationship progress was different from a lot of couples. They started off as childhood friends, then siblings, and finally as a couple.

They tried being a normal couple for a day. Doing things like holding hands, whisper sweet-nothings into each other ears, sharing a cone of ice cream for example.

Holding hands ended up becoming a restraining tool to keep Misaki away from sneaking off to buy more ice cream. Whispering sweet-nothings became Misaki's cries for more ice cream. Of course, Misaki finished the ice cream before Touma could have a second bite.

The both decided that they should just be themselves.

Despite being afraid of being abandoned again deep down inside, Misaki still acted like a spoilt queen in front of Touma.

She trusted me.

Because Misaki trusted that Touma loved her, and would never abandon her, she did not pretend to be another person to please him.

But I...

She went as far as to offer her body to please him so that Touma would not break up with Mikoto.

The feeling when Misaki rubbed his hand up and down on her panties bothered him.

Why are you so shallow, and so cheap? If I wasn't acting, would you think that this would change anything? I'll just corrupt your body, and dump you anyway. My love comes from the heart, not from my lower body damn it.

I hate this Misaki.

The submissive Misaki who would do anything for him.

And it's all my fault.

The result from breaking her trust towards Touma.

Upon thinking that, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach and grabbed his painkillers from the cabinet. After swallowing it, he began coughing, and his palm became stained red.

I hope she hasn't found out about the secret compartment in my room. At least not now.

Inside was all the medicine Touma needed to maintain his healthy appearance towards Misaki.

Eventually, you'll find out about my illness.

Misaki was not an idiot. You cannot treat a god in chess and puzzle games as an idiot.

On the surface, it might seem as though Touma was intentionally breaking Misaki's heart so as to hide his illness from her.

But I'm not an idiot as well. My plan is not as simple as that.

He needed Mikoto to be his girlfriend. To be specific, 100% sure that Mikoto will listen to him because of her love for him.

Given Mikoto's background, and his new-found powers, it wasn't impossible to charm her.

A lonely girl trapped in the darkness who never experienced love and care for a long time. That was where her weakness lies. All Touma had to do is to enter her life and change that. Even if Touma were to be honest that he already had a girlfriend, a simple lie that Touma had no feelings for Misaki before he met Mikoto was enough.

Mikoto would not leave him because she needed his love almost like a drug. Or at least in theory. Touma did not want to risk Mikoto breaking up with him because of Misaki, so he had no choice but to break up with Misaki.

If she hadn't found out about my affair a night ago, I wonder how things might have turned out?

Touma decided not to dwell on 'might be' and focus on 'what's next'.

Now that I have 99% control over Mikoto, my plan will not fall apart. Destroying the Kumokawa Corporation is only Phase 1 out of 2.

Destroying half of the darkness will definitely create chaos within the darkness. Phase 2 will take advantage of that chaos. After all, many of the people working under the Kumokawa Corporation are anti-Kiharas. With so many people working in temporary, independent small groups, a concentrated counter to his Phase 2 is impossible within a short time period.

Furthermore, he managed to gather around 50% of those temporary, independent small groups into his group known as BLOCK because of Mikoto, which was the most important piece in his plan.

Without this group, Touma's plan will fall apart.

And I wonder why I always lose to Misaki in chess. Is she just that good, or am I really an idiot for not being able to beat her. Come to think of it...

Something struck Touma as odd when he entered the house.

On the TV screen, he saw Misaki being beaten by the chess AI by a staggering 0-13. At the moment, Touma thought that Misaki was being affected by her emotions especially after Touma kissed Mikoto in front of Misaki's eyes.

But that would mean that Misaki must have been home for some time already.

She also mentioned that she was a bad girl, and used her powers against Mikoto but failed before falling unconscious.

The only explanation is Body Crystal. Without it, she can't use her Level 4 powers. There is no meaning if she can't even read or control Misaka's mind... why does she look normal to me?

After using Body Crystal to boost one's ability, one would become tired over time regardless of whether the ability is used or not. The effect is greater if the ability is used.

This is assuming that Touma's knowledge of the Body Crystal isn't outdated yet. Academy City is known for its rapid technology development after all.

Wait, I need to confirm the time when this happened first.

Touma made a call to Mikoto.

"Hey, you called. Are you feeling better already?"

"There's something I want to ask you."

"Yes?"

"Did Misaki approach you?"

"Umm yeah. She was going crazy and pointed a remote at me. I felt like somebody punched me in the face when she pressed the button. I thought that was her power, but she said something like her power isn't working. Anyway... I really hope that she doesn't commit suicide because of the both of us. Your ex-girlfriend can really be troublesome."

"Neve- Are you okay? I'm sorry that my ex-girlfriend is bothering you."

"I'm fine, don't worry! I somewhat I understand her feelings, but I'm sure she'll get over it. Don't have to apologise, it's not your fault."

"When did you last saw her? Misaki isn't at home. I fear she might have gone off to do something silly."

"Really?! She was acting crazy after all. Anyway, I last saw her around sunset. She ran off somewhere after realizing that her powers doesn't work on me."

"You're saying that she pointed the remote at you around sunset."

"Yes. If it helps, I remember her swallowing a white substance from a clear case. Should we go and look for her?"

"Maybe she needed some time alone. I think its okay, I hope."

"I guess so. Alright, please don't forget our date tomorrow... or maybe we can search for her if she doesn't come home."

"Yes, yes, Mikoto. I'm sure Misaki will be fine. See you."

"Bye bye."

Touma put down the phone.

You've got me.

Misaki faked her unconsciousness.

At that time, Touma was shocked and heartbroken to see Misaki acting like a different person because of him.

He never rationally thought about how was it possible for her to remain conscious without any fatigue signs and then suddenly clutch her head in pain before falling unconscious after consuming the Body Crystal.

At least from observing Rikou, Touma knew that the Body Crystal doesn't work that way. Rikou would become more and more tired until she fainted if pushed to her limits.

Also, Misaki had swallowed the whole thing. Exceeding the consumption limit by that much would have killed her instantly.

This was enough proof that she definitely faked her unconsciousness.

Touma made a phone call to another person.

"Tsuchimikado?"

"Kami-yan, is there anything you need?"

"I heard that the Cp191 drug has been leaked out just yesterday."

"You want one? I have a pill with me right now, but since supply is extremely limited, it won't be that cheap."

"Deal. We'll do the trade now."

"Prepare the money."

Touma laid on his bed.

With this drug, even if you find out that it was all an act from me, it doesn't matter.

* * *

**Part 2**

Meanwhile, Misaki sat on the floor.

Complete silence. Alone.

But I'm the burden here? What do you mean by that? What has it got to do with being Misaka's boyfriend? Despite Misaka knowing that you already have a girlfriend, she's still willing to be your mistress? What are you planning?

Mikoto being a Level 5 meant that she had immense value. Touma must be using her for a purpose not known to Misaki.

What does that purpose got to do with you being a burden?

A few ambulance personnel entered the house.

"Are you okay? Someone called the ambulance just now."

Misaki shook her head, "My head feels a bit funny. I'd like to be admitted to the hospital for observation, though I wonder where did that person who called the ambulance for me when I fainted went to."

I want to know that purpose.

They escorted Misaki to the ambulance.

I'll ask Rikou to invite you to my ward. A convenient excuse to meet you alone without Misaka being suspicious.

Lying down on the hospital stretcher, Misaki closed her eyes.

I'll definitely find out about your purpose. Even if you don't come.

* * *

**Between The Lines 1  
**

Fire filled the corridors.

One by one like ants, Mikoto killed everyone who attempted to escape from the fire with her electricity.

At the next floor, she did the same.

A young boy cried with a group of other children around the same age as him.

They were trapped in a corner by Mikoto.

"Please don't kill us!"

Without flinching, she killed them as well.

Like an emotionless robot set to kill, Mikoto repeated this process.

On the next floor, it was the same.

And the next, and the next, and the next floor changed nothing.

It's not like I have a choice. It's all his fault... It's all his fault that I have to kill all of those innocent kids!

Her boss Kumokawa Seria ordered Mikoto to kill the masked person who kept on disturbing her company's research projects and jobs in 30 days. If not, she would kill her mother.

Mikoto hated killing.

But for my mother's safety, I have to kill them.

By participating in a ridiculous project to improve her Personal Reality by killing Child Errors, this would definitely lure the masked person to interfere, and she'll kill him when he comes.

Every Child Error she killed almost brought tears to her eyes.

Faced with a merciless monster, fear gripped everyone.

However, its grip was harder on Mikoto.

Why would this merciless monster be even more afraid than them?

Because this merciless monster was only an ordinary girl trapped inside a recurring nightmare.

On the last floor, there was a room not set on fire.

Curious, Mikoto entered the room.

A group of children numbering around 20 were gathered inside with a teacher.

"What's this, a party?" Mikoto said.

The teacher stood in front of the children, "I don't know why you want to kill those children, but you'll have to get through me first."

"Sure."

Mikoto turned the teacher into a black, unrecognisable mass.

Loud screams filled the air. Some of the children began running in fear.

Mikoto killed all those who were running.

Only 7 children remained. Eyes wide in shock, body trembling.

She stared at the children, keeping her emotionless look.

Over 20 minutes passed. Nobody appeared.

Mikoto snapped the door into two with a lightning bolt.

"I've already killed almost everyone in the building, why aren't you appearing yet?! Fucking appear! God damn it!"

Mikoto nearly broke into tears when she heard a voice.

"Even if I appear, can you defeat me? You're killing all those people for nothing."

Standing at the entrance was a masked person.

His mask was black.

His suit was white.

This contrast was the masked person's defining trait.

Unknown to Mikoto, behind the mask was Touma.

Mikoto laughed, her eyes cold, "So you finally appear. Today will finally be your death anniversary!"

"You never learn."

Touma nodded to the remaining children, and they ran out of the room.

Mikoto took out a coin from her pocket, and rested her left hand inside her other pocket, "We'll see."

She fired a Railgun at Touma.

At that moment when he raised his right hand, Mikoto pulled out a gun from her left pocket.

Touma noticed the gun, and he redirected the Railgun towards it. Mikoto dodged that orange beam, and a portion of the room was destroyed.

Before she could fire the gun, Touma slammed into her, and the both went through concrete, landing a few floors below.

If it wasn't for her electromagnetic barrier, Mikoto would have died from the impact.

Touma crushed the barrel of the gun. He grabbed her neck, and flung her into a burning classroom.

Electrical tendrils shot out from her body, slicing through the wall that separated the classroom from the corridor.

Mikoto stabilised herself, floating.

She planned to fire the Railgun to distract Touma before taking out a gun and kill him. From Mikoto's previous encounters with him and observations from his battles with other espers, she concluded that he is unable to manipulate any non-esper attacks.

If he can reflect her Railgun, then why can't he reflect a simple bullet?

Unfortunately, he reacted to the gun faster than Mikoto thought.

"If you want me to stop killing all those innocent people, you have two options. One, never appear again and stop interfering with what the Kumokawa Corporation is doing. Two, die. In fact, it's all your fault that those people died."

Touma said, "I wish to save you. That's why I'm doing all this."

This masked person somehow liked to interfere with her jobs frequently. Because of that, Seria chose her to kill him in 30 days.

"You keep saying that, but why do you want to save me? I don't understand why won't you answer my question."

"It's not the right time yet."

Using electromagnetism, floating tables surrounded Mikoto.

"I expected a different response, but you always disappoint me. Anyway, I'm beyond redemption. Just let me sink inside this darkness forever. I don't really care anymore. I have to protect my mother, so you have to die."

She shot tables after tables. Touma swatted them away.

"What if I tell you Kumokawa can't kill your mother anymore."

"Wh-What do you mean?!"

"That's because she's now under the protection of BLOCK. As for me, I'm also now the BLOCK's leader."

"You're with the Kiharas? What are you planning?"

"Destroy the Kumokawa Corporation with the Kiharas to save you."

Mikoto landed on the ground, electricity around her body crackling in anger.

"Why? Fucking answer my question properly. Don't give me the same bullshit saying it's still not the right time yet."

Touma took off his mask.

"You're a kind girl being forced to become a monster, that's enough reason to save you."

She took a step back, shocked.

This was the boy she met some time before when she destroyed the Parameter List data in her mother's friend phone which he was holding.

"Do you understand now?" Touma said.

"Wh-Why? I'm just a stranger. There's no reason for you to go that far!"

"Do you really want to know the reason why I'm saving you?"

Touma took out a phone, and dialed a number before passing it to Mikoto.

"Kamijou? Do you have any good news about my daughter?"

Mikoto recognised the voice.

"Mum?"

"Mikoto, is that you?"

"Are you the one who asked someone to save me?"

"I received an email from a friend in Academy City, saying that you were in some kind of trouble. Soon after, Kamijou called me about your situation. It's all my fault that I signed the contract. I didn't know it was a scam to force you to kill people."

"It's not your fault."

"Sorry that you ended up going through all this. If only your father's business didn't fail and him disappearing, leaving us such a heavy debt, perhaps you would have a normal childhood... but it's okay now, Kamijou will save you. Soon, you don't have to kill anymore. I trust him."

"Okay. I see."

Mikoto put down the phone and started crying.

She no longer had to kill anymore.

It was the end of her nightmare.

Touma put his mask back and reached out his hand.

This was the beginning of a story between Touma and Mikoto.

* * *

**Part 3  
**

"It's just a dream?"

Mikoto opened her eyes to the glaring sunlight.

Squinting, she closed the curtain.

"Oh, and it's morning already."

Mikoto got off her bed, headed to the toilet to wash her face and brush her teeth.

Yesterday, she had a flashback dream. A dream that took her back into a day in her past.

The last day of her nightmare.

She checked her phone. No more briefings about the next killing mission. No more killing.

Everything was truly over.

Mikoto switched on her computer, and sent an email to her mother.

_Touma is finally my boyfriend! I'm so happy :)_  
_How's your studying? I hope everything is going well for you._

"I'm done."

Mikoto pressed the enter button, and looked outside the window.

"It may not be snowing, but the weather is still so cold."

She heard the doorbell.

I wonder who could be that early.

It was Touma.

"Wh-What are you doing here?! I'm not even changed yet!"

Mikoto's pyjamas was completely green with Gekota prints.

Touma chuckled, "You like Gekota so much that you wear them to sleep. I'm here to deliver breakfast."

He left a white styrofoam bowl containing porridge on the table.

"I don't really know what you like, but I think I can't go wrong with porridge especially when its winter. Careful, it's hot."

Mikoto grabbed a plastic spoon, taking small bites at a time.

Her face went red, "How romantic of you..."

"I'm your boyfriend after all. Boyfriends should be romantic."

It was so easy to make Mikoto blush. If it was Misaki, she would never blush. Even when Touma made an exception and let her eat desserts for breakfast, she accepted it with glee. A younger Misaki when she was his childhood friend at that time would probably blush though.

"Oh... romantic huh. Th-Then d-do you think it'd be fine if I call you Honey or Dear? Would that be romantic? I can't lose to you."

"Just... call me Touma. You're trying too hard."

"Come to think of it, I've seen this 'sending breakfast to your girlfriend house' technique in a guide."

"Yeah, I read a guide on how to be romantic. So far, from your tomato face, its working great."

"Id-Idiot!"

Touma negated her lightning attacks, "You're so easily embarrassed, and so dangerous when you're embarrassed."

"It's not like I can kill you with my lightning."

"Tomato-face, if you don't finish your porridge soon, it'll get cold."

"My name is Misaka Mikoto!"

Touma swatted an incoming lightning bolt from her bangs, "You're so Biribiri every time... I'll call you Biribiri instead."

"Are you trying to come up with some cute pet name for me?"

"You're always so biribiri when you're embarrassed, there's nothing wrong with that."

Mikoto swallowed the last scoop of her porridge, her face now even redder. "Since I'm yo-your girlfriend now, I don't re-really mind actually."

Touma took her hand, "Let's go then, Biribiri."

* * *

**Part 4  
**

Touma found himself back in the same Gekota shop where he bought a keychain for Mikoto. This time, he was holding a bag of Gekota-shaped chewy gums.

It was sour flavoured.

He had tricked Misaki once into eating one sour flavoured sweet. She was not amused.

In the end, Touma ended up buying one tub of ice cream, and four bags of strawberry lollipops to wash the sour taste off.

Mikoto tapped him on the shoulder, "Why are you staring at a bag of sweets? Is there anything special?"

"Oh, its nothing. Do you like sweets in particular?"

"Eh? Not really. I mean I'm okay with sweets, but I don't eat much."

"I see. I think I'm the same as you when it comes to this."

"If you don't mind, could you help me search for my rainbow Gekota figurine?"

Mikoto was tired of her bad luck in failing to get the rainbow figurine from toy capsule vending machines, so she decided to directly purchase one in the largest Gekota store.

Touma went to ask a shop assistant. A girl in short, brown hair in the queue took the last piece already. She just finished paying, and both Mikoto and Touma approached her.

"Excuse m-"

Rikou stood beside the girl.

The girl who was Kinuhata Saiai blinked, "Takitsubo, you know them?"

"The slut, Misaka Mikoto." Rikou said.

"Oh, her."

Mikoto kept her lightning in check. She was in a crowded area after all.

"How many times must I say this? I'm not a slut!"

Saiai shook her head, "If you're a boyfriend stealer, you're a slut. Is that so hard to understand?"

"Look here, I'm not a boyfriend stealer. Touma said that he already had no feelings for her before he met me. Before, not after! Anyway, he has already broken up with his girlfriend already."

Mikoto held Touma's hand, "I'm his new girlfriend now."

"Kamijou. Misaki is in the hospital." Rikou said.

"What happened...?" Mikoto said.

She forgot all about Misaki when Touma surprised her by sending breakfast directly to her house. The joy from Touma being her official boyfriend played a part as well.

"She tried to kill herself." Rikou said. "If you still have a conscience, and remember your ex-girlfriend, visit her. Alone."

Guilt pressed on Mikoto's chest.

Despite convincing her not to do anything silly, she still attempted suicide. This Shokuhou must really love Touma a lot.

"I will." Touma said.

Saiai waved, "Bye bye, adulterous couple."

Both Rikou and Saiai went off to the nearby escalator.

* * *

**Part 5  
**

Mikoto and Touma sat on a bench near an ice cream vendor, holding hands to keep each other warm.

She felt as though the world was against them from being together. Was it her fault that she entered Touma's life just when he had no feelings for his ex-girlfriend?

But as long as I have him, and I know I've done nothing wrong, I don't care about what others think of me.

"Could you tell me more about your ex-girlfriend? It's okay if you don't want to."

Other than the fact that Misaki became his girlfriend just after entering Academy City, and that he lost feelings for her some time later, Touma never told Mikoto much about her. When Mikoto tried asking a few times before, he would just say nothing until she changed the topic.

What little Mikoto knew about Misaki was that she's rather spolit and overly dependent like a princess, which was why Touma lost feelings for her. He wanted someone more independent and stronger.

"In winter, she eats her ice cream cold under a kotatsu with the heat turned to maximum while playing games on the console."

"Why? Isn't there hot ice cream that warms people up during winter?"

"She said it tastes funny, but she wanted to eat ice cream anyway."

Mikoto got the impression that Misaki was also the kind of girl who would keep eating ice cream in the winter until she gets an upset stomach. Once it's over, she would continue eating and the cycle repeats.

"And being the princess she is, you let her eat or else there would be hell?"

"Yeah, you can say so. Though I managed to make glutinous rice balls with sweet soup or also known as tang yuan, and she liked it, but decides that ice cream is better, and swept the bowl away causing a mess. This girl can really be that spolit at times."

In truth, Misaki decided that tang yuan was better than ice cream in winter and forced him to make this dish every day.

"Wow. I didn't know she was such a person, but it's okay, you have me now."

How Misaki had friends was beyond her understanding. Was she the kind who ill-treats her boyfriend, but treat their friends nicely?

Mikoto smiled, then her face turned red.

"What's wrong?" Touma said.

She closed her eyes and kissed him on the cheek.

"I see, Biribiri. As always, your face is red. Don't have to be that embarrassed kissing your boyfriend."

"I'm not embarrassed! I'm just nervous!"

Touma got up, "Hey. I'm sorry, but can I be alone for the rest of the day?"

"Because of her?"

"Yeah. I just need some space to think things through."

"I understand. Call me when you're okay."

"I will."

Mikoto felt sorry for Touma that his girlfriend was being too desperate.

If he has no feelings for you, then why can't you understand that suicide to force him to return to your side is pointless?

Surely Touma must be troubled about this, so he wanted be alone.

Hope everything will turn out alright when he visits her in the hospital. I'm sure she'll come to her senses that love also means to let go.

* * *

**Part 6  
**

It was past midnight.

Misaki stared at the night sky inside her almost pitch-black hospital ward. Only the faint moonlight was shining through the window.

Ever since Misaki found out about Touma's affair with Mikoto that very evening, it felt as though as though Touma summoned the night sky to swallow her whole.

Nothing but darkness. Where's the moon? Where did the stars go to?

Scary.

What should I do?

If light enters a dark place, it ceases to be dark.

I must find a light source.

None could be found.

Help me... I'm scared of the darkness. Touma, where are you?

Why would the guy who trapped her inside this vast, dark nothingness be here?

Misaki took a deep breath.

Hey... this must be a prank right? Despite knowing that I'm afraid of the darkness, you threw me inside a dark place. As you can see, I'm really scared, so I think that's enough fun for today.

People do not fear darkness itself. They fear their lack of knowledge to what is hidden within it.

Didn't I tell you, I'm really scared! You've succeeded in scaring me, so can you please stop it already?

No reply. Nothing changed.

Must I tremble in fear before you can see that I'm afraid?

Still no reply.

I see. So I have tremble so hard till I fall on the ground in complete horror to prove I'm really, really scared. I'll do it, so could you please stop it already?

Still no reply.

Misaki felt a remote in her pocket.

_All your problems will go away if you press the button. _

A voice from the remote spoke to her through telepathy.

I can make the darkness go away if I press it?

_Yes. _

She pressed the button. With great anticipation, Misaki waited for the darkness to disappear.

_I'm sorry. Your remote won't work against this particular darkness._

...

Tears began flowing.

Please don't leave me alone. Hey, can you hear me? Touma, are you listening? Are you there? I need you. Save me.

_You stand there helplessly as you cry. Weak. You're really just a burden who deserve to be trapped inside the darkness._

If I prove that I'm not a burden, will the darkness go away?

_Yes. _

Then how do I prove it?

_See that light over there. If you can touch it, you'll prove that you're not a burden._

She began running.

Once Misaki was punished by a teacher after school to run seven rounds. Touma was there watching, encouraging her.

Touma must be watching somewhere. I'll definitely reach that light. I won't disappoint him.

However, no matter how hard she ran, the distance between her and the light never changed.

Her body ached. Her lungs screamed for more oxygen. Her brain kept pounding fast like her heartbeat.

She ignored all impediment that attempted to stop her running.

Her body reached her limits, and she fell to the ground.

Misaki cried because she could not go on despite Touma's encouragement. She was too weak.

This time, I won't be that weak girl from before.

She got up, and continued running.

Her pace was even slower than walking. Even so, it's a step closer to that light. That was enough reason to keep going.

No matter how strong your will, the human body has its limits.

Misaki fell to the ground again.

She wanted to get up, but Misaki lost control over her body.

Her hands would not move. Her legs would not allow her to stand up.

I'm sorry. I'm still so weak.

Her eyelids got heavier.

Will you reach out your hand once more?

Just like that time in school when Misaki cried, Touma reached out his hand, and they both finished the remaining rounds together.

At the very end, there was still no reply.

She closed her eyes.

Misaki felt somebody hugging her battered body.

It was Touma.

And the night sky turned into morning.

"Misaki."

She turned away from the night sky towards a shadowy figure in her ward.

Touma stood beside her bed.

"You're here."

"Why did you pretend to fall unconscious?"

It's just the same question that I've asked before. Do you really have no feelings for me? Would you be able to leave me alone just like that without saying anything?"

Touma smiled, "I see."

"Touma."

Misaki hugged him. The tears would not stop.

"I was scared. I thought I was really going to lose you! I'm glad that this is all just an act. You still love me."

"Yeah."

Misaki smiled, her tears stopped.

"Hey, do you know how stupid I was? I really thought that if I were to beg Misaka, she would somehow return you to me. That didn't work of course. So I wanted to mind control her to leave you. Somehow my Mental Out wouldn't work on her. I was so shocked. I wanted to cry, but I will never cry in front of that bitch who stole my boyfriend.

"I don't want to be your burden. I want to be useful to you. So long as you love me, I don't mind being your slave. As a girl, there are so many things you can do using me, and I will do my best to please you. When I regain my Level 4 powers, I can even control people for you. I'll become a very useful tool, but for now I thought that you could use my body for your pleasure."

Touma wiped the remaining tears on her cheeks.

"... Idiot Misaki. The Misaki that I love isn't a slave."

Under the faint moonlight, the both remained in each others embrace.

Warm.

Nobody knows how much time has passed before Misaki broke the silence.

"But the Touma I love is a slave. A slave that will love me forever."

Misaki sat on the bed, and folded her arms in a pompous manner. "Hear me, my loyal servant, I order you to tell me what's going on. What is your purpose for pretending to break up with me."

Touma sighed, but he felt happy that Misaki was being Misaki again.

He took a seat on the nearby chair.

"Listen up. Th-"

"One bowl of ice cream for being too rude. Is that how you speak to your queen?"

"I think your waistline is becoming thicker from eating too much ice cream."

Misaki winced, "Yo-your threats mean nothing!"

"Alright, alright. I promise, I'll get you a bowl of ice cream after you're discharged."

"Okay, you've promised. Now, continue, my servant Touma."

"You know that I took over an organisation called BLOCK from the Kiharas in order to destroy the Kumokawa Corporation right?"

She nodded.

"Misaka Mikoto is part of BLOCK as well. All you need to know is that Misaka is the one who is truly in control over 50% of the other smaller organisations that was once working for the Kumokawa Corporation inside BLOCK. I estimate around 2000 Level 3s to 4s espers. Without her, BLOCK would be too weak to carry out my plan. That's why I need to convince her that I truly love her by pretending to break up with you."

Misaki thought. Using love to manipulate Misaka, and in turn indirectly obtain control over 2000 espers. Definitely an extremely important piece in Touma's plan.

"What is your plan?"

"To destroy the darkness in Academy City. Now that half the darkness has been taken down, I have to take advantage of the chaos to finish the remaining element of the darkness. The Kiharas."

"That's part of your plan. You know that it's impossible. If it was possible, why does the Kumokawa Corporation to co-exist with the Kiharas despite having half the darkness in its hands?"

"Because destroying the Kiharas would mean to destroy Academy City. That's why they choose to co-exist because there's no point in that."

Misaki's eyes widened, "You want to destroy Academy City? Th-That's crazy! You'll be crushed instantly if Academy City goes all out!"

Touma laughed, "Just kidding. Of course I know that."

"Then what is your plan?!"

"I'll tell you if you forfeit your bowl of ice cream."

Misaki turned her head to one side, "No! You made me upset by pretending to break up with me. By right, I should have 5 bowls of ice cream. I'll be nice and accept 3 since you care for my health."

He sighed, "... Alright."

Misaki nodded, with a smug smile on her face.

"So I'll get 3 instead of 1 now. Okay, now tell me your true plan."

"To get the both of us out of this fucked up city. I want to negotiate directly with the General Superintendent. Everything I'm doing is for that purpose."

"I get the feeling you'll sacrifice everyone in BLOCK. First, you begin your plan in destroying the city in order to negotiate directly with the General Superintendent. At some point in time after proving that BLOCK would be a significant threat, he'll definitely meet you.

"In exchange for our freedom, you'll give the list of all the members in BLOCK to him. That's not you at all... The Touma I know wouldn't exchange 2000 over lives just for himself."

Touma held Misaki's hand, "If I had never met you, perhaps it would be unthinkable of me to do such a horrible thing. But I want to protect you because I don't want to lose you. Somehow, love can make people really selfish. I'm sorry. Will you forgive me?"

"It's 2000 lives... I... don't know."

Misaki struggled against the angel and the demon in her heart.

The angel wanted her to find another way, or convince Touma to stop. It's too selfish of her to sacrifice 2000 lives just for herself and Touma.

The devil said that since those 2000 lives aren't related to her and Touma at all, who cares. Every man for himself.

"Why do you have to go so far in the first place? Can't we just live a peaceful life in the city? Perhaps the Exterior project is just a one-off thing. It probably won't happen ever again." Misaki said.

"Because similar to Takitsubo, you're valuable to the darkness because you have the potential to become a Level 5. They'll use all means possible to trap you inside the darkness. I don't want that. That's even worse than what we've been through before we entered the city."

"I, a potential Level 5 candidate?"

Just two days ago, Misaki thought of working hard to become a Level 5 so that she would not be a burden to Touma.

To think that she could someday make her dream into a reality.

Touma said, "Only seven people can be a Level 5 in this city currently. You're one of them. Don't ask me how I know that, just trust me. All the three Level 5s so far are trapped in the darkness... you won't be an exception."

Misaki knew what horrible things Rikou went through. Touma was doing all this to protect her from ending up like Rikou or worse off than her.

"I know, but its 2000 lives... I don't think I can live with this guilt my whole life."

Touma took out a pill from his pocket, "There is a way without sacrificing 2000 lives. All I have to do is to convince one person to work with me. If you swallow it, I think I have a way."

"What's this pill?"

"Cp191. Once you swallow it, you'll fall into a deep coma. Nobody can wake you up. Not even a mind esper like you can."

"You don't have to lie to me. You're still the same, leaving me out of this just to 'protect' me. I want to be part of your world as well. Let me help you. I can join BLOCK to support you as a friend, Even though it'll make my blood boil seeing Misaka holding your hand, and yo-you being s-so nice to her, I don't mind!"

"This will be last time. Once you wake up, we'll leave Academy City together and stay with Mum. Dad's always away on his business trips, so I'm sure she'll be glad to know that we're coming back for good."

"Together? You promise?"

"I promise."

Misaki stared at the pill. She had a strong feeling that if she were to swallow it, she would never see Touma again.

"I'm scared. What if I wake up to see you gone forever? I don't want that."

Touma pulled Misaki out of her bed, and into his arms.

"What are you doing?" Misaki asked.

"Don't be scared."

He began to kiss Misaki, like how he had kissed Mikoto under the tree yesterday.

His tongue twirled and played around with her tongue. Misaki did the same.

At this point, she felt superior over Mikoto. After all, she was the one that Touma truly loved, not Mikoto.

"... You promise you'll be the first person I see when I wake up?"

"I'll can't exactly promise that, but I'll definitely pick you up from the hospital. After we reach home outside of Academy City, we'll have ice cream with Mum as well."

Misaki took a deep breath, "I trust you."

She swallowed the pill.

Drowsiness kicked in.

"I hope they have vanilia, chocolate and strawberry."

"I'm sure they'll have it. See you in a month."

Misaki nodded and smiled, "I love you."

She fell into a deep coma.

Touma caressed her cheeks, "Sorry, but you'll have to go back on your own."

He turned back and looked at Misaki peacefully lying on the bed.

"I love you too. Goodbye forever, my lovely queen."

He closed the door.

* * *

**A/N: **Just when you thought Touma was pretending to break up with Misaki to hide his illness. Yeah, plot twist I guess?

If you're wondering, its January now in my fic. So it's winter, but in Tokyo, there's not much snow because its only around 7 degree lowest at most.

The start of Part 6 was my way of summarizing and showing what Misaki felt throughout in Chapter 1. I only mostly showed her reaction and left it to you guys to interpret, so you can think of this as an "answer" from the author itself.

Glad to see decent response for this fic. I really thought that people would hate this fic because Touma was acting so cruel to Misaki in the first chapter. Your support really means a lot to me!

Hope I did fine in this chapter, and hope you guys liked it of course.

Review response...

To guest: Touma isn't an esper. And remember that the summary is Touma walking down the path of a Magic God. This means that my fic will be more magic-side focused. It's just that I needed one science-side arc to bridge the gap. Touma probably won't be helping any Level 5s with the Parameter List.

To JustARandomGuy: I guess I got the meaning of NTR wrong, haha. Hmm, well if you read Chapter 1 alone, I think the song Haru Haru really fits.

To Guest: It may be my first fanfiction, but it's not my first time writing :)

**EDIT 08/01/2014: **I'll copy paste the explanation from my draft to how the Body Crystal actually works here. I deleted this part because it wasn't necessary to the story at the time.

"Your knowledge about the Body Crystal is wrong. In the first place, it's not about how much you consume at once, but how many times you're exposed to the substance. Licking twice has a larger negative effect over swallowing 1 litre continuously at once.

"I wasn't thinking straight at that time, so I swallowed the whole thing. Also, the new Body Crystal Rikou gave to me will only make me more tired if I use keep using my ability during the time when it's taking effect." 


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: **

**For Your Lonely Heart. He_Will_Be_Stopped  
**

* * *

**Part 1**

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

In front of a cylindrical machine large enough to fit a person inside, a blonde girl smiled at her twin before turning to a bespectacled man.

"Don't worry. If it's him, I'll definitely be okay."

The blonde girl stepped into the machine. Three soft beep before a loud beep confirmed that she was connected to the machine.

January left the room.

Unlike her sister, she did not trust this bespectacled guy one bit.

Aritomi Haruki.

Leader of STUDY, a medical technology company that deals with the dark side secretly. One look and January knew that he wasn't any decent guy.

Somehow, her sister February fell in love with this guy.

Just because he's a talented scientist does not mean he has a good character. He's part of the darkness that do cruel things to people!

Was what January kept on telling her.

But February said the darkness is more complicated than that. Being part of the darkness does not make one a bad person.

January was still not convinced. She heard rumors about her classmate Shokuhou Misaki being involved in the darkness. They did cruel things which damaged her brain permanently. However, a miracle happened to Misaki. She woke up with her brain damage cured.

A miracle happened to her once as well.

January should have died two weeks ago in a bus explosion caused by some rogue espers on her way back home.

However, her sister managed to save her from the claws of death.

January woke up inside this building, and decided to stay and watch over her when she heard that February was working for STUDY.

She went back to her bedroom inside this building which functioned as a laboratory and HQ for STUDY. Opening her laptop, January continued her hacking attempts into STUDY's servers. Even a week was not enough.

I can feel it. There must be something fishy going on.

Her sister was also a scientist who decided to join STUDY and help Haruki, despite January's advice to stay away from him.

She successfully hacked into the servers, and accidentally opened a file opposite the file she wanted.

_Chemicaloid Project. _

_A project to create artificial espers known as Chemicaloids.  
_

What's this?

She ignored it and moved on to an important file.

It was information regarding the machine connected to her sister.

Once connected to the network, her sister could amplify her ability known as Diffusion Ghost to control and coordinate up to 20,000 Powered Suits at once.

It was a Telekinesis variant that involves projecting one's AIM field onto an inanimate object to control it. Normally, Telekinesis involves applying a power produced by the AIM field onto an object to control it.

January knew that.

She said that Haruki had a dream. A dream to change Academy City into recognising scientists like him in this esper obsessed city.

In order to help him achieve this dream, she was willing to connect her brain into a network to amplify her ability.

Then she saw an email from another member of STUDY attached to the blueprint.

_While the subject connected to the machine might face a heavy risk of complete brain damage, the machine has been upgraded such that it can take over the calculations if connected to the subject's brain long enough. _

I have to disconnect her from that machine!

She rushed out of her room into a corridor.

Over the speaker, a man's voice could be heard.

"It seems that the spare has found out about our little secret."

It was Haruki.

"How could you do this my sister? She trusted you!"

"Sacrifices must be made in order to achieve great things. Your sister's death won't be in vain."

"If you fucking stop the network now, she'll live!"

"I'm sure even if I told her that connecting to this network would kill her, I'm sure she wouldn't mind. After all, that's how much she loves me."

"I'll free my sister, just you wait."

"Even if you have the same ability as her, you can't hack into the network directly. Of course you also know that even turning off the machine's power supply will kill your sister instantly."

January ran, and stopped a few Powered Suits in the way with her ability.

Since she also has Diffusion Ghost, January used her own AIM field to interfere with the Suits controlled by the network.

In less than 30 seconds, the Suits came alive again. The network resolved the error caused by her interruption.

If I can't save her on my own, then I'll have to find somebody to save my sister.

A few Powered Suits blocked the exit. They were holding hockey sticks.

The other Powered Suits from behind were the same.

January noticed that none of the suits seem to have no weapons.

If he's planning a revolution, why aren't they equipped with weapons? Is he stupid?

Those suits pointed their hockey sticks towards January like a gun.

I spoke too soon.

She slammed into a nearby door, dodging an intense bullet storm.

Despite the Powered Suits firing at each other, their amour were strong enough to shrug off bullets.

And I thought they would destroy each other like in the movies.

The Powered Suits turned towards the room where January was at, and fired.

She took cover under an overturned table.

January expanded the depth and width of her AIM field, stopping the Powered Suits from firing and moving.

She shot out faster than a lightning bolt through a tunnel.

Her head throbbed in pain. Probably from pushing her ability too hard.

As soon as the suits regained control, they went after her.

Now at a large field in a sport stadium, multiple Powered Suits surrounded January.

Hockey sticks disguised as gun pointed towards her.

January had nowhere to hide or run.

She tried to use her ability again, but that only intensified her headache.

"Feburary, it's me January! Can you hear me?"

What are the chances of her sister being able to hear her?

Zero.

Faced with imminent death, January trembled.

"I know you can hear me somehow! If I die here, nobody will be able to save you in time! I want my sister back alive!"

However, a second miracle happened to her.

All the Suits turned away from her, and headed inside the building.

January headed for the exit.

I'll definitely save you.

* * *

**Part 2  
**

Touma stepped out of the hospital.

He promised himself that he would not step inside Misaki's ward ever again. However, only a day has passed and Touma found himself back inside her ward past midnight.

Would it be better if Misaki remained in a coma forever? If waking up could not promise a happily ever after, then wouldn't it be better if Touma had not exchanged his soul for a miracle to wake her up?

I was selfish.

All Touma wanted was to see Misaki smile again, so he woke her up.

Because he wanted a smiling Misaki, Touma would always hide things that would make her worry or sad.

But am I wrong in doing that? Doesn't loving someone means to make them happy?

Touma looked up at the starless night sky.

That's why I'll face the darkness alone.

With a smile, he continued walking.

Touma wanted Misaki to be by his side, her warmth providing relief from the cold darkness. However, he pushed all those desires away.

Because he wanted a smiling Misaki, Touma would not allow her be in any pain and danger.

His phone rang.

"This STUDY organization is very good in hiding. We've raided their decoys for almost a week, but we still can't find their HQ. New decoys seem to be appearing everyday."

It was one of his subordinates in BLOCK.

"How many locations left?"

"For now we have three, but tomorrow the amount might increase to six or seven."

"If we still can't find STUDY within 2 days, we'll have to proceed with our plan without the Powered Suits."

BLOCK's plan was to take over the 20,000 Powered Suits from STUDY. Otherwise, their members would be left too vulnerable without any additional support. An esper may be stronger than ordinary humans, but they can die if the technology pitted against them is superior enough.

However, they cannot waste too much time setting up their plan because soon the Kiharas would stabilize the chaos caused by half the darkness collapsing overnight, and then destroying BLOCK would be as easy as squishing an ant.

Just then, he spotted a staggering blonde girl.

It was Misaki's classmate. Touma remembered her because she came to his house a few times to do her summer group project homework with Misaki and Rikou last year. However, he forgot her name.

She fell to the ground.

Touma went over to her, "What's wrong?"

"My head... hurts."

He touched her forehead with his right hand, and a loud shattering sound appeared.

January blinked. The pain vanished instantly.

She did not have time to wonder about this boy's ability. He looked strangely familiar for some reason.

"Save my sister."

"What?"

"STUDY trapped my sister inside a network. If I don't disconnect her soon enough, she'll die. I know the place so if it's possible could you get somebody strong to save her?"

What are the chances of this boy being capable of doing so much? He's probably just a ordinary high school boy who knows nothing about the dark side in Academy City.

"Did you just say STUDY?"

"You... know them?"

For the third time, a miracle occurred.

"We have been tracking them for an entire week already. You know where their headquarters are located, right?"

January nodded.

"Tell me more about their headquarters. We'll begin our infiltration almost immediately."

"Immediately?!"

"That's how important STUDY is to us."

Touma took out his phone, and dialed a number.

January said, "Okay... Umm, they have Powered Suits all over the place. I escaped because I can stop them from functioning with my ability. Also, those suits have guns. I almost died, but my sister saved me."

The number got through. It was a call to Mikoto.

"I was starting to get worried about you. You haven't called me back for two days already. Are you okay alre-"

"Mikoto, I've found a girl who knows where STUDY is located. Let me get more information before I decide on a plan. We'll begin infiltration in an hour time."

Touma put his call on hold and turned to January.

"Anything else we should know about this place?"

"There are five people inside this place, all membe-"

"I already know all about the people inside STUDY. Any traps or things we should look out for?"

"None I guess, only Powered Suits are guarding the place, but there's a lot of them."

"I see."

Touma went back to his call, "Just come with Kuroyoru. Powered Suits should be no problem for you. If it's somehow immune to electricity, Kuroyoru can deal with it."

"Alright. I'll see you in an hour time."

* * *

**Part 3  
**

Haruki leaned against his leather armchair inside an office.

By dawn, the Silent Party shall begin.

He wanted to show Academy City that they should not ignore scientists by unleashing his Diffusion Ghost network.

Most importantly, he wanted to be recognised. Haruki had enough of being neglected just because he could not shoot lightning or spit fire strong enough to kill an army.

Despite how much effort one puts into their studies, or how many research papers one publishes, only espers are recognized by the city.

I will change this unfair system where only espers are the ones being recognised while scientists like us get ignored.

This was the purpose of his Silent Party.

A revolution.

20,000 Powered Suits that will bring chaos onto the city.

From his computer, a message appeared.

_Why do you want to kill my sister?_

It was February.

Powered Suits crashed into his room.

Haruki sighed, not afraid of the hockey guns pointed at him.

How annoying.

He typed a code on his computer.

He no longer needed to explain anything to February.

It was a code that would erase February's consciousness as an individual.

Haruki thought that it was impossible for February to interfere with the network. Yet she managed to take over the entire network using her willpower.

Love can really be powerful... but not powerful enough.

He pressed the enter key.

February was no more, and Haruki regained control.

A video call window popped open on his computer.

His backer, Kihara Yuiitsu. All his funding for his project came from her. Of course, the revolution part was kept hidden from her.

A rather easy person to fool despite being a scientist, Yuiitsu was only 16. An inexperienced, naive girl.

She believed him that the huge amount of money requested for his project was because of its complexity while actually, he wanted the extra money to create 20,000 Powered Suits for his revolution in secret.

Yuiitsu said, "Are you done with your machine already? I remember that you said it would be finished by today."

"Don't worry, the Diffusion Ghost is fully functional now."

"Then I look forward to what your Diffusion Ghost can do."

She exited the call.

On the screen, he saw January together with a boy and two girls at a large stadium, which was the entrance to STUDY's HQ.

Haruki chuckled.

You found help in such a short amount of time, that's really impressive, but your sister is already dead.

Powered Suits surrounded them.

Now, let me show you the power of my Diffusion Ghost.

* * *

**Part 4  
**

"Are you really sure that only Powered Suits are protecting the place?" Mikoto said.

January nodded.

Touma, Mikoto, Umidori and January were on their way to STUDY's HQ.

Umidori stretched her arms, "I think this little bitch is probably leading us to some trap."

"It's not a trap or anything! My sister is trapped by a machine inside that could kill her anytime!"

Touma said, "She's a classmate of Misaki after all, not some complete stranger who I don't know."

January realized why this boy was so familiar. She saw him last year in Misaki's house while discussing their summer group project last year.

At that time, she sighed at her misfortune being stuck with one freaky starry-eyed girl, and a weirdo girl who seem more like a robot than human.

After getting to know them better, January felt that they were easy and fun to get along with despite what some rumors in school might say, but she had her own clique in school, so she never talked to her or Rikou much.

"So how's Misaki? Haven't seen her in ages in school ever since that incident." January said.

"She's enjoying life at home." Touma said.

Umidori suppressed her laughter, "You mean, hospital? And that's because you fucking broke up with her."

Touma broke up with Misaki to be with Mikoto. January could tell from the both holding hands.

She read the atmosphere well enough not to ask any further.

"We're here."

The four stepped inside a stadium.

Halfway towards the entrance, Powered Suits holding hockey sticks surrounded them.

The screen above came into life. A bespectacled man with a smug smile could be seen.

Aritomi Haruki.

"I'm impressed. You've found help that fast. But that wouldn't change anything."

The Powered Suits pointed their hockey sticks at them.

"For you will all die here anyway!"

Firing sound rang out. Bullets flew everywhere.

However, the four remained unharmed. Mikoto threw a defensive electromagnetic barrier, shielding them from bullets.

"You're forgetting that a Level 5 esper can fight an army alone and win. Those Powered Suits are nothing." Mikoto said.

Haruki shook his head, his smug smile grew even more smug.

"Misaka Mikoto. I can tell from your electricity. I might have really panicked if you were the Dark Matter. What a pity."

"What do you mean?"

A Powered Suit slammed its hockey stick onto Mikoto's barrier.

Touma intercepted the attack.

"Do you understand now?" Haruki said.

"My barrier... Why?"

That Powered Suit's stick went through her barrier like it never existed.

Seeing how confused Mikoto became, Haruki laughed maniacally.

"Just because you're a Level 5 does not mean you're invincible! I'll show this esper obsessed city the power of my Diffusion Ghost! I hope you've had fun experiencing a sneak preview of my Silent Party."

The screen went black.

Umidori created a nitrogen spear, "Let's just fucking slice them into pieces."

She swung the spear towards an incoming Powered Suit.

It dissipated into the air.

Umidori leaped up, and rained nitrogen spears at the Suits mid-air.

None of them worked. She formed a swirling nitrogen current, keeping her in the air.

Mikoto hurled electricity. As soon as it came into contact with the Powered Suits, it dissipated into the air just like Umidori's nitrogen spears.

Before a Suit could smash January's head into a bloody mess, Mikoto grabbed her, leaped upwards and passed January to Umidori.

Umidori created another swirling current for January to stand on.

January trembled. She saw no ground under her, but there must be one because she was standing on something solid. One small, careless movement and January would fall.

"What a pussy." Umidori said, "Can't you see the swirling currents? If you don't cross that, you won't fall."

"That isn't helping! It's my first time being so high up in the air after all. I should be scared!"

"You're still a pussy anyway. There's no need to be scared if you know you won't fall."

January decided to ignore Umidori, and focus on keeping calm.

Knowing that you won't fall doesn't mean you won't be scared of falling. What if something unexpected happens, and she fell? That was what she was afraid of.

Mikoto fired her Railgun, destroying four Suits at once. The kinetic energy generated from accelerating a coin three times the speed of sound using electromagnetism could pierce through their amour.

However, she had limited ammunition; about nine coins left.

Touma crushed Suits after Suits with his bare hands.

"I can understand electricity, but why isn't Umidori's nitrogen spears working?" Touma said.

"Molecular disruption. Can't you tell? I know because I can do the same thing with my power, but not to this extent." January said.

"You said it faster than me. I just don't know how exactly you do that with your power. Do you have the ability to cover each object with a molecular disruption barrier?" Mikoto said.

Her barrier failed because the electron alignment were disrupted. Umidori's nitrogen spears dissipated because the molecule alignment that kept her nitrogen compressed like a solid were disrupted.

"We project our AIM fields onto objects we want to move similar to Telekinesis. I guess that's the barrier you're referring to."

"Guessed as much. Does your ability happen to be Diffusion Ghost as well?" Umidori said, while sitting mid-air with a bored expression.

"Yeah. The barrier is really strong because there's a network amplifying my sister's ability. However, the network will kill her if she's connected for too long."

"So your sister's Diffusion Ghost is the one that's moving the robots?" Mikoto said.

"That's right."

Touma punched one Powered Suit, crashing onto three other Suits.

"Oi Umidori, don't just sit there, do something!"

"I'll clear a path for you guys." Umidori said.

She created one pillar-sized 10 meters long nitrogen spear by merging multiple smaller spears, propelling it towards an area unoccupied by any Suits.

It ripped apart half the field, and the shockwaves caused by the impact blew away almost three quarters of the Powered Suits.

Umidori grabbed January by the collar.

"Wh-What do you think you're doing?!"

"Playing catch, with you being the ball."

She hurled January towards Touma. He caught her as she slammed towards his chest.

January's eyes were wide open, body stiff, as if fear had encased her in a vacuum sealed coffin. She thought that this would have been the end of her.

Umidori sighed, "She must be the kind of girl who pees her pants during a roller coaster ride."

"Hurry up, let's not waste any more time." Touma said.

Umidori liked Touma's manpower deployment style. Quality over quantity.

He's probably the only person that would deploy just one Level 5, one Level 4, and himself for an important infiltration.

The four headed for the entrance.

* * *

**Part 5  
**

"Super worst day ever."

Saiai hid under a table with Rikou inside a room while Powered Suits roamed outside.

The job was to destroy the Diffusion Ghost network inside STUDY's HQ. ITEM received the job 40 minutes ago. It was an extremely urgent job that must be finished immediately. However, only Rikou and her were available as Shizuri and Frenda had other business to take care of. Fortunately, only Powered Suits were guarding the HQ, so only the two of them should be enough.

They were so wrong. Those Powered Suits were not ordinary Powered Suits. At least they didn't have heat sensors, so Rikou and Saiai were safe inside this room.

"I guess we have to wait until Mugino and Frenda arrives." Rikou said.

She could tell using her AIM Stalker. Each Suit outside were coated with an AIM field that disrupts molecule alignments.

Molecules are closely packed together in solids, which is how Saiai can compress nitrogen to form a barrier, and grant her super strength.

By disrupting the alignment, her compressed nitrogen will turn back into air, rendering her ability useless.

Thus, Rikou dropped a flash grenade, and dragged Saiai inside a room.

"Are you super done yet? I've super never been in such a pathetic state before. Hiding like a coward in enemy's territory." Saiai said.

20 minutes ago, Rikou took out a PDA, and hooked it up to a machine, attempting to hack into the surveillance cameras inside this building to understand the building's layout better. The firewalls were very good, so she haven't succeeded yet.

"I'm not a hacking prodigy, give me some time."

Just then, Saiai's phone rang.

"Frenda?"

"Abandon your current job."

"Huh?"

Loud screams followed by Shizuri's laughter could be heard from the background noise.

"Apparently, the client decided to change his mind. Don't worry, we'll get paid anyway."

"Okay."

The call ended.

"Who's on the phone?" Rikou asked.

"Frenda. The client super changed his mind. We've been super getting that quite a lot recently. Ever since that Kumokawa's company went bust, everything is now super chaotic. Your enemy seconds ago could become your friend for a minute before she turns back into your enemy. I'm not super complaining though. We still get paid anyway."

"Then I'll search for an exit path through the cameras."

Multiple screens popped out on Rikou's PDA. She succeeded in hacking into the cameras.

A particular screen caught her attention.

She saw Touma with blonde girl beside him inside another room.

"Isn't that Kawamoto? Why is she with Kamijou? No, why is she even alive?"

Two weeks ago, Rikou heard that her classmate Kawamoto Yuki was one of the few victims that died in a bus explosion caused by rogue espers.

Her death was confirmed, so why did she fake her death?

It must be some plot going on from the dark side. Then again, it was none of her business until ITEM gets a job involving that plot.

Touma coughed blood out. With his hand stained red, he took out a syringe and injected himself.

"Don't tell me... Why haven't I thought of this possibility before."

Then, Touma looked at the camera, as if he was acknowledging her presence.

Everything clicked into place for her.

Two days ago, Misaki fell into a coma. The doctor said that her brain waves mysteriously went flat.

Rikou knew that this was the Cp-191 originally created for an abandoned Mars investigation project. Touma purchased one from Motoharu.

I will stop you.

She didn't know exactly what Touma was planning.

But Rikou was sure of the ending.

Touma disappearing forever once Misaki wakes up.

* * *

**Part 6  
**

Yuiitsu sat at her desk, twirling her pen as she watched Touma knocking Powered Suits after Powered Suits away through her laptop.

A dog attached with arithematic circuits jumped into her lap, blocking her view.

"Noukan, you're in the way."

She held the dog by its collar, and placed it on the floor, eyes never leaving the screen.

"Have you gone crazy watching your crush Kamijou on the screen?"

Thanks to the arithmetic circuits, despite being a dog, Kihara Noukan could think and speak just like any other people.

A few years back, a boy named Kamijou Touma happened to rescue Yuiitsu from a kidnap attempt. Ever since then, she had a small crush on this hero. Only Noukan knew about this when she confided in him.

"What? No?"

"I've been calling for you for 5 minutes already and you never responded."

"Kamijou came earlier than expected. I thought I would only see this when I pit my Powered Suits against BLOCK. I'm so happy."

Yuiitsu pointed at the screen, "See, that's Kawamoto on the screen. She must have found Kamijou by chance, and now he's infilitrating the building to save her sister from the network. I knew I was right in implanting false memories that she had a sister inside her."

"Just admit that you lack focus."

Noukan shook his head. Her nephew Yuiitsu got bored with her Chemicaloid project, so she decided to take a short break and experiment on implanting false memories onto Aritomi Haruki. It was a success, and now he thinks he's the one who created the Chemicaloid project, and so the Diffusion Ghost network.

There was meaning in doing this because she could hide her involvement by manipulating Haruki into creating a group known as STUDY to help him with 'his' project. If there's any trouble, all the fault would just go to him and the group. Of course, it was just an excuse to hide her boredom.

Motivated by her success, Yuiitsu decided to implant false memories onto a girl named Kawamoto Yuki after saving her in secret from a critical condition when Yuki got involved in an accident. Yuiitsu also faked Yuki's death because she wanted to practise manipulating information. Now Yuki thinks she's January, and has a twin sister named Feburary, which happened to be the Chemicaloid Yuiitsu created.

There was no meaning in doing this other than Yuiitsu wanting a twin sister for her Chemicaloid. She said that this would improve February's Personal Reality, and so her ability. Similarly, another excuse to hide her boredom.

"What's wrong with that? I love experimenting on different things. Through implanting false memories, I've gained a better understanding over the Testament machine, which sadly was not created by the Kiharas, but that's why I thought of understanding this machine so that we Kiharas can create something better."

Yuiitsu's phone rang.

"So have you found out who sent ITEM for a job around this time?"

"It's Kumokawa Seria. It's a job to destroy the Diffusion Ghost network."

"Oh, it's her."

Seria must have known that BLOCK was after the Diffusion Ghost network, so she wanted to sabotage their attempt to take revenge for destroying her company.

Well, a has-been is easy to deal with.

Yuiitsu said, "Make her change her mind."

"Understood."

She went back to her laptop screen.

Let's see how my hero Kamijou will fare against my Diffusion Ghost as a whole.

* * *

**Part 7  
**

"I still think this is a trap. Too quiet and empty." Umidori said.

The four had exited a tunnel and walked down a corridor. Low whirring sounds could be heard in the background, and their footsteps echoed on the floor.

"It's not a trap! Have you lost all trust in people?" January said.

"Anyway, it just seems like a trap to me no matter how I look at it. A random girl appearing out of nowhere saying that she knows the location that we're after. Too good to be true." Umidori said.

"I have a question." Mikoto said. "Why is it that for an organization who has enough money to build 20,000 Powered Suits, their HQ are so poorly guarded? Where are all the people?"

Umidori said, "Like I said, it's a trap. I expect an ambush soon."

Touma turned to January, "So where's your sister?"

"On the fifth level. The building is so large because of the 20,000 Powered Suits and some other experimental facilities. Otherwise, there's only me, my sister and the members of STUDY."

Powered Suits crashed through the corridor walls.

Leading those suits were two members of STUDY equipped with powered amour.

Kosako Shunichi and Sekimura Hirotada.

"That's right, intruders."

"An ambush as expected, but it annoys me that I have to go such a roundabout method to fucking crush them all." Umidori said.

January smiled, "I'll interfere with the Suits using my ability. Destroy as many as you can before I get too tired."

All the Suits dropped their hockey sticks.

Umidori and Mikoto wiped out the entire Suit army that surrounded them. It took them less than 3 seconds. However, Shunichi and Hirotada's amour were strong enough to withstand their assault that took down 50 Powered Suits in 3 seconds.

January leaned on Touma, "So... fast... but my head..."

Mikoto said, "Get January to a safe area first. We'll take care of those bastards. Let's meet up at the fifth level."

Touma touched January's head with his right hand. Like before, he negated something, and her pain went away.

The both went up to the second level.

* * *

**Part 8  
**

January and Touma raced through the second level and reached the third level. She requested Touma to stop for a quick break.

"By the way, what's your ability? Healing people by touching them plus superstrength?" January said.

"It's rather complicated but I definitely can't heal people by touching them."

"Then why is it after I used my ability, you can make the pain go away by touching my head?"

"Never thought of finding out."

By default, his Imagine Breaker is set to negation. He has to consciously set it to manipulation. If he had attempted to manipulate, Touma would know the answer.

He felt a sharp pain rising from his chest.

"What's wrong?!"

Blood trickled from Touma's mouth.

"I pushed too hard."

Strength in his limbs gradually started to fade. He collapsed on fours.

"Get me m-"

Powered Suits appeared on both corridor ends.

January winced, "What a convenient timing."

Touma stood up, trembling. "Use your ability on me."

The Powered Suits dropped their hockey sticks and tore each other limbs apart.

January could not believe her eyes. "That's... impossible. I mean it's not impossible for me if I'm at a higher level but you?"

"I think I understand your ability. A network is controlling all those Suits by sending a control signal created by your Diffusion Ghost's ability. You have the same ability, so you can jam the network's control signal. My ability allows me to manipulate any ability that touches my right hand. I altered the signal using your ability."

"You weren't listening when I explained my ability back then?"

"Sorry. I was busy fighting those Suits so I never noticed you speaking."

"It's simple really. Diffusion Ghost works by projecting one's AIM field onto an object they want to control.

"So, the network works through a transmitter located inside the suit. A signal is sent to the transmitter, creating a flow path for the AIM field to project onto the Suit, controlling it.

"By superimposing my own AIM field onto the Suits, I block the signal from reaching the Suits. Since no AIM field reaches the Suit, they won't move. This is how I can erase their molecular disruption barrier as well."

"You mean, there's a layer of AIM field surrounding the Suits?" Touma said.

"Yes."

Then why couldn't I negate that AIM field?

Touma found that strange, but he decided to think about it later.

She supported Touma, and entered a room.

Touma coughed out blood. With his hand stained red, he took out a syringe and injected himself.

"I should be okay with that." Touma said.

"Are you ill or something?"

"This always happens when I use my ability too much, don't worry."

Touma noticed a surveillance camera.

"Let's go. We might have been spotted already."

* * *

**Part 9  
**

Sekimura Hirotada had a dream.

He wanted scientists to be recognised by Academy City. In order for that happen, Hirotada wanted to be the first scientist to create something that can defeat a Level 5 esper.

However, the prototype Powered Amour created by him could not even handle a Level 4.

Umidori twisted her body sideways, dodging Hirotada's fist.

With a cruel smile, she sliced his arm off with her nitrogen spear, before using the nitrogen spear in her other hand, slicing his head off.

Blood poured out from his neck like an open tap.

"So beautiful."

Her arms were cyborg arms, so she had the strength to slice through amour.

Mikoto sighed. Blood reminded her of killing.

Shunichi saw his best friend died in such a horrifying manner. He stared at Umidori, rage clear in his eyes.

She grew excited, and pointed her nitrogen spears at him.

"I like that look in your eyes. Your anger is beautiful."

Shunichi clenched his fists, "You monster! How could you kill someone so cruelly without feeling any remorse!"

"If you don't want to die, leave." Mikoto said.

She understood what Shunichi must have felt.

Misaka Mikoto often asked this question to the monster known as the Railgun.

"If I have to die, then I'll die together with that fucking monst-"

Mikoto fired a Railgun, missing his head by mere inches.

"I'm sure that your friend would want you to live on. If you're given a chance to live, fucking appreciate it. Such a chance is hard to come by in the darkness."

From her cold glare, Shunichi could tell that Mikoto must have been through hell much worse than him. He knew that the darkness was hell for many people who were trapped inside.

"Yeah... you're fucking right. I joined STUDY because I thought I could save everyone from the darkness by creating an artificial esper stronger than a Level 5 through the Chemicaloid Project. Hirotada had a different dream than me, but our end goal were similar."

Mikoto extended a hand, "Why don't you join BLOCK then?"

"BLOCK...? Isn't that the organisation who turned against the Kiharas after destroying the Kumokawa Corporation?"

"Everyone who joins BLOCK have the same dream as you. Save everyone from the darkness. Taking over the 20,000 Powered Suits from STUDY will immensely help support our dream."

Umidori said, "Just to clarify. I'm just a mercenary working for BLOCK. I could care less about those losers inside the darkness. I actually enjoy my life in the darkness."

"Why don't you work for ITEM then?"

Behind Shunichi was Saiai and Rikou.

Umidori said, "You? Kinuhata Saiai? Work with you? I can't want to fucking kill you."

Saiai shook her head, "I still don't understand why you hate me so much."

"I have plenty of reasons to hate you, honor student. ."

"You're just sore that I had higher grades than you."

"No, it's because you followed the curriculum like a fucking obedient dog. I don't like that."

"I can see that you hated the curriculum when you killed all the researchers, bankrupting the entire Dark May Project."

"Misaka Mikoto." Rikou said.

"Yes?"

"Kamijou doesn't love you at all."

"Why are you saying such things all of a sudden? You're weird."

"He's just using you."

"If you're trying to sow discord between Touma and me, you're doing it wrong."

Mikoto mocked Rikou for being too naïve to think that a few negative comments about Touma would destroy her relationship with him.

Beneath her emotionless look, Rikou mocked Mikoto for being too naïve to think that Touma's feelings for her are real.

"Let's go, Kinuhata."

"Why are you two here in the first place?" Mikoto said.

"I don't think there's a need to tell you that."

The both walked away.

* * *

**Part 10  
**

"My sister."

Touma and January were at the fifth floor. Through a cylindrical machine large enough to fit a person, a girl identical to January could be seen.

"February?"

January nodded, "My twin sister."

Because she had the same hair colour as Misaki, Touma once commented that the both were like twins. January said that she was the only child in her family.

Or I did I remember it wrongly?

Touma now had this feeling that her name wasn't January. It seemed out of place. Her name should be a Japanese name, but the exact name escapes him.

Haruki appeared from behind a machine, and pointed a gun at January.

Powered Suits surrounded them.

"Don't you realize by now that your Powered Suits are useless against me and January?" Touma said.

"Oh. These Suits guarding the network are different. Because they are so close to the source, and after my power allocation adjustments, even one Suit alone might prove to be a challenge."

A Suit shot towards Touma. He attempted to punch through its amour, but an invisible force resisted. Pouring maximum strength, Touma only caused a slight dent on its amour.

"Let me tell you a little secret. The more Suits are there within 10 meters , the stronger they get. Do you even have any idea how many Suits are there in this floor alone?"

Like a WiFi signal, the AIM field covering the Suits gets stronger if they are closer to the source. Also, multiple Suits can combine their individual AIM fields into a single, huge AIM field.

Similar to an Telekinetic's AIM field, the Diffusion Ghost's AIM field can form a barrier that creates a significant outward pressure within a very small range if strong enough.

While there must be some kind of trick which prevented his Imagine Breaker from negating this particular AIM field, he still had options.

He pointed to the cylindrical machine, "But if I destroy the source, your Powered Suits will be paralysed."

Haruki smirked, "You wouldn't, because February will die if you do that."

There were so many Powered Suits. Just one Suits required so much from Touma. He'll probably die of exhaustion taking on so much alone.

"I think you're forgetting me here." January said.

"You? What can you possibly achieve? Don't even think about using your own ability to interfere. It's pointless. I've already patched the error caused by superimposing your AIM field onto the Suit's AIM field."

Haruki's lips curled up, and broke into laughter, "What will you choose? Your sister or your life? Guess what? You don't really have a choice because I'm going to kill you."

"You're wrong. I have a third choice. Your life." Touma said.

All the Powered Suits turned towards Haruki, hockey sticks aimed at him.

Haruki's eyes went wide open in complete horror, "HOW CAN THIS BE?! JUST WHAT IS YOUR ABILITY?"

Touma said, "Manipulate any esper abilities with my right hand. Diffusion Ghost works by projecting your AIM field onto something you wish to control. All I did was to convert January's AIM field projected onto me into February's AIM field, and by using that I can take control by projecting this converted AIM field onto all the Suits."

To be exact, Touma first attempted to use January's AIM field to interfere with February's AIM field. Then, conversion is possible by comparing the differences.

"I've always been wondering one thing. What is your purpose in creating 20,000 Powered Suits? A revolution?"

"A revolution to change this fucked up city who only cares about espers! What about us scientists? Aren't we important as well? I'll show them how important we are by unleashing my Diffusion Ghost network! Yes, this will prove how superior how our Chemicaloids are over espers."

"Chemicaloids? What do you mean by that?!" January said.

She accidentally opened a file named Chemicaloid Project when she hacked into STUDY's servers. It was the creation of artificial espers known as Chemicaloids.

Haruki smirked, "Your sister is a Chemicaloid. Just a toy created by me."

January rushed to the nearest computer and clicked on the Chemicaloid Project file.

Blueprints detailing her sister's creation.

She collapsed onto the ground, horror paralyzing her body.

"Then... am I a Chemicaloid as well? A copy of my sister?"

January stared at her hands. Are those human hands? She gripped her own arm. Are those also human arms?

"What do you think? Isn't it obvious." Haruki said.

"No way... I'm not human...?"

Was she interacting with the world with an artificial body all along?

Then, what about my parents? Are they fake as we-

Pain assaulted her head.

Her mind flashed white.

I can't remember anything!

January screamed.

Touma tried touching her head, hoping it would make the pain go away. It didn't work.

A screen came alive. A girl with long, black hair could be seen.

"Kihara Yuiitsu." Touma said.

"You remember me? I'm glad."

He would never forget this girl. She was the first and only Kihara he saved while he was still mostly ignorant of the darkness in Academy City.

"Are you the one behind everything?"

"Of course. This Chemicaloid Project, and the Diffusion Ghost network was done by yours truly alone."

Haruki said, "What do you mean by that? I was the one who did it all by myself. You're just a backer behind my project."

"That's because I implanted false memories into you, and to Kawamoto as well."

"Who's Kawamoto?" Touma said.

"January. Her real name is Kawamoto Yuki. It seems that she couldn't handle the shock from realizing that her sister, and so her whole life was a lie. Well, not all of it are fake, so I think a mind esper can fix her up pretty good."

She laid on the floor, eyes vacant.

Haruki took out a gun, pressing it against his head.

"I don't even know what's real anymore!"

He pressed the trigger.

Yuiitsu said, "I think there must be some incongruence when I implanted the false memories inside. They probably went crazy when they realized the incongruence."

"What's your purpose in creating the Diffusion Ghost network, and the Chemicaloid?"

Yuiitsu looked at him confused.

This wasn't the response she expected from what she knew about Touma as a person. Too calm. He would normally become angry at how cruel she was. Perhaps he has changed from being in the darkness for too long.

"To experiment? Well okay I'll explain. One day, I thought about how we Kiharas could mass produce stable Level 4 espers as well after Kumokawa came up with her White Alligator project."

"Which ended up as a failure. All of them became as unstable as the Level 5s."

"Well that's because she's not a Kihara. Anyway, a guy named Aritomi Haruki approached me with this Chemicaloid Project. Apparently, he was presenting this project to a couple of underground organisation to gain their support. All of them rejected him because at that time, the White Alligator project showed promise.

"I liked his idea, so I decided to support him. But I had to do everything myself because there was so many errors that I wonder how he became a scientist."

"And so you targeted Kawamoto Yuki for her Diffusion Ghost ability?"

Yuiitsu wrote something down on a clipboard, "I used her AIM field values, and her body as a model to create February. I did the false memory implantation to Kawamoto because I thought it would be beneficial for Feburary's Personal Reality if she had a twin sister."

"The 20,000 Powered Suits?"

"I did all this just to observe one thing."

"..."

"The boundaries by which your Imagine Breaker defines esper abilities. You're unable to negate the AIM field projected onto the Suits. That really says a lot about your ability."

Touma flinched, "You all did this just to understand my ability better?"

Because the Chemicaloid are artificial humans, the AIM fields that they produce are artificial as well. For example, Touma could negate fire produced by an flame esper, but he could not negate fire produced by lighting a matchstick. This was the reason why he could not negate artificial AIM fields.

"When I utterly crush BLOCK with my Diffusion Ghost network, yeah. Somehow you appeared earlier than expected because of Kawamoto. I knew I wasn't wrong in implanting false memories onto her, and Noukan keeps on saying that I lack focus."

Mikoto and Umidori entered the room to see January lying on the floor with a vacant look, while Haruki clutched a gun, lying on the floor face down, blood trickling from his head.

Yuiitsu put a pen to her chin, "Hmm... you know what, it would not be Kihara-like of me if I don't give you the entire Diffusion Ghost network."

"Are you crazy? You're giving your enemy a massive advantage just like that?" Mikoto said.

"You'll put it into better use than me. Please don't think of me as your enemy. I'm a scientist. I know that BLOCK is planning something really big. I'm looking forward to the data collected when 2000 espers unleash hell onto Academy City together with my network. It's like Daihaiseisai bought forward, so I see no reason why I should deny myself a chance to collect data."

"You Kiharas are crazy." Umidori said.

"I'm looking forward to what BLOCK can do with my network."

The screen went black.

* * *

**Part 11  
**

Mikoto sighed as she leaned on Touma's shoulders on the sofa. There was nothing interesting, so she switched off the TV. Since nobody is at home, he decided to stay overnight in her house.

"Why didn't you tell me that you can't use your power too much?"

"I just didn't want you to worry."

After stepping inside Mikoto's house, Touma pressed against his chest, and coughed out blood, scaring Mikoto. After consuming the pills in his pocket, his symptoms went away.

"Couples should trust each other. You can trust me. If there's any problem, I'm sure we can overcome it together."

"Alright then."

Since Misaki and him were a couple, then should he have trusted Misaki and tell her everything? Surely they could overcome the problem together.

But this is not love.

If that problem would cause unhappiness or danger to her, then he would face the problem alone.

This is love.

No matter how painful, so long as she remains happy and safe, I'll face it all by myself.

Before his death, Touma would create a safe and happy environment for her.

This was the end goal of his plan.

"Hey." Mikoto said. "Do we really have to resort to terroristic acts?"

"If we don't do it, we can't force the higher-ups into completely dissolving the darkness."

"I mean I understand, but I don't like killing innocent people to achieve our goals. It's just wrong. I'm sure we can find another way or something..."

Touma stroked Mikoto's hair, "Do you trust me? "

"I do, but it's ju-"

"Sometimes, sacrifices are necessary to bring about a greater good. Being too idealistic won't save everyone. If the death of 100 innocent people can allow 1000 more people to live in permanent peace, wouldn't that be great?"

"Bu-"

He kissed Mikoto's lips, "Trust me. There may be sadness and fear now, but at the end, everyone will be smiling."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"I trust you."

Mikoto smiled at the thought of living a peaceful life with Touma in Academy City where nobody has to suffer inside the darkness ever.

* * *

**Part 12  
**

Rikou leaned against a wall outside a building under dim lighting. She was waiting for the rest of ITEM to finish up some loose ends from a job.

She reached for a phone in her pocket and made a call to Seria.

No response.

"Yeah, I should have expected that."

Rikou needed all the help she could get to stop Touma. She would try again tomorrow.

Misaki, I'll definitely keep my promise to you.

* * *

**Between The Lines 1**

Rikou stepped inside Misaki's hospital ward.

It's been two months since Misaki miraculously woke up from her coma.

She saw Misaki crying in front of a laptop.

"What's wrong?"

Misaki shook her head, and wiped the tears away.

"I just got a bit too emotional listening to this song."

Rikou looked at the song's lyrics.

Did Misaki write the lyrics herself?

Then she saw that it was a song from a famous anime, and the lyrics was done by another person.

Misaki said, "Touma isn't visiting as frequently as before ever since that incident. I know he's probably up to something again. I really want to tell him that we can overcome any problems together. No matter how scary or painful the darkness will get, I'll be by his side."

Rikou waited for Misaki to finish her sentence. Silence ensued.

"But...?"

"I can't sleep. I'm scared that one day I'll wake up to see him gone forever, but I'm just a burden right? If that really happens, I should blame myself for being too useless right?"

Rikou clasped Misaki's hands, "You're not useless. Kakine is the strongest Level 5. You surviving an attack from the strongest Level 5 is an achievement. Kamijou is just a selfish jerk who only thinks about himself and not you."

"Even if he's a selfish jerk, I still love him. I'd rather die than to live without him."

"You are kidding, right?"

"No. I'll kill myself if he disappears from my life."

Misaki's cold, determined eyes halted Rikou's breathing. Misaki wasn't joking.

Rikou sighed, "I promise you that I'll keep an eye on Kamijou and make sure that he doesn't run away while you're sleeping, so please don't say such things so seriously."

Misaki flashed a smile. A 180 degree transformation from just now.

"You'll keep your promise right?"

"I get the feeling that this is your set up to bait me into making this promise."

"I know you hate him, but a promise is a promise!"

Rikou nodded.

Surely she must be smiling because of that small hope I've given to her.

"Yeah. I promise."

* * *

**A/N: **A rather hard chapter to write. I really don't know why I ended up choosing the Railgun S joke of a group called STUDY. But, if you consider Yuiitsu's motive in creating the group, STUDY is a rather apt name. To study the Imagine Breaker. Or that she's just bored. You never know.

Anyway, I managed to get the chapter done. I think that if it was Kamachi, he would expand this one chapter into an entire book, but to me, this is just a set up chapter for the later events. For him, it would be a set up book like NT3 for example.

For Touma, actually he's somewhat like Ollerus. Corrupted in the sense that he's only focused on protecting one thing (Misaki) and doesn't care about anything except for the thing he wants to protect. By the way, what he thinks is loving Misaki is actually rather distorted as well. That's why Rikou is there to shatter his illusions... I hope? Anything can change.

If you're wondering what song Misaki was listening at the last scene, it's God Knows by Hirano Aya from Haruhi Suzumiya. Nice song by the way. If there's a Touma's song, it would Late In Autumn by fripSide, which was also part of this story's inspiration. There might be some small spoilers if you understand the lyrics.

If this chapter sucks, I think I have a fair idea why. If it's good, well I'm glad. But please do tell me why it sucked though so that I can improve of course :)

Review response...

JustARandomGuy: Misaki will most probably meet Mikoto when the both enroll inside Tokiwadai. And yes, it's similiar because this fic is inspired from CrossFaded's A Mirage To Keep You Safe. Btw, Touma's plan as seen in this chapter is to start a war in Academy City. There might be twists though.

werdninja: Thanks :)

Annoymous: Maybe it might be a bit Deus Ex Machina when it is revealed that Misaki pretended to fall unconscious because I forgot to add the Body Crystal's explanation into last chapter's A/N which was the reason why this was possible. Otherwise, I would like to hear more elaboration about what you meant by Deus Ex Machina and random scenes :)

PS. There are might be another notification about my update because I took down the chapter for a while since there was some problem with the site.


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